Rare Collection of 3 Vintage Optical Lantern Images of the Qajar king Palace, Tehran, Isphahan, Circa 1905

Qajar king Palace Iran

Photograph

[Magic Lantern, Iran] Collection of 3 Vintage Optical Lantern images of Iran circa 1905. 3 1/4" X 4." The images include the Qajar king palace, royal gardens in Tehran, and the Khaju Bridge in Isfahan. In the first image we see a Persian man in traditional 19th century clothing strolling in the Qajar royal Palace and gardens. The second image is a very rare aerial view of 19th century Tehran, labeled "the Shah's gardens and the new neighborhoods." Since this image predates airplanes it is an extremely rare find, probably using an aerial balloon. In the final image we see the Khaju Bridge, which is one of the most famous bridges in Isfahan, Iran. It was built by the Persian Safavid king, Shah Abbas II around 1650 C.E., on the foundations of an older bridge. It has 23 arches and is 105 meters long and 14 meters wide. The bridge served as both a bridge, and a dam, and public meeting place as it links the Khaju quarter on the north bank with the Zoroastrian quarter across the Zayandeh River.

These are positives on a glass lantern, Gelatine silver bromure. In 1850, two Daguerreotypists in Philadelphia, William and Frederick Langenheim, invented a transparent positive image of a photograph in the form of a glass slide that could be projected onto a wall or screen using a Magic Lantern. Magic lanterns, also known as optical lanterns, provided one of the most popular forms of entertainment during their heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using an artificial light source and a combination of lenses, these devices enlarged small transparency images or miniature models and projected them onto a wall or screen. dimensions : The photographer of the first two images, Arthur Radiguet (died the same year the images were made,1905), he worked for the " la Maison Molteni" famous for their lantern images. The third image was produced by T.H. McAllister a very important and famous company based in New York, which specialized in magic lantern equipment and images. Scarce and in very good condition.

Item #14529

Price: $280.00