Posted 13 years ago
peshcale
(1 item)
I'm hoping someone can tell me what this is or was used for. It folds down into a box like picture #1 but expands into some kind of stand. The top part has a black board with wood down the center on both the top and under side. The middle is a piece of opaque glass supported by wood. Towards the bottom of the wood on both sides is a zig zag pattern cut into the wood as if it was designed to maybe hold something on the glass. The bottom piece is a swiveling board where one side is a mirror and the other side is wood. There is some kind of push out drawer on the bottom that pushes out to the side. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This is a negative retouching frame. It dates anywhere from the late 1880s to sometime after 1900.
This device is a photographic negative printer, it dates from the 1880s to about 1900.
In those days, photographers did not have an "Enlarger", or device to project light through a negative to make a "bigger" photograph. Also, the negative was not a plastic film, but a plate of glass. This glass would have been the same size or smaller that the opening of the frame in you "Holder".
Note that the top frame is Blacked out, this allows the photo printer to control the amount of time for the exposure. As the light passes through the negative, to the paper, it is called an exposure. The paper (actually cardboard with photo sensitive paper on top is placed on the bottom, then the negative, then the black paper "shutter".
These are somewhat rare, and would be of interest to people that still practice "Antique" photography.
Hope this explanation is understandable and correct.
Tom
I had not seen <B>rniederman</B>'s response, as I was composing my answer at the same time. I did not intend to confuse or plagiarizer.
Thanks so much for helping me solve this mystery piece!
Just to clarify, the item is a retouching frame as opposed to a printer. Photographers often manipulated a developed neg, and these stands were designed to bounce light onto the plate to make it easier to retouch. Printers of this period have the appearance of a simple picture frame with glass and underlying felt covered blocks of wood with pressure springs. I have 1880s references if anyone is interested in seeing how these were advertised.