Claudet, Antoine

Region: United Kingdom / France    Period: 1850–1890    Occupation: Photographer / Inventor   Tag: Claudet Antoine Claudet
* 18 August 1797, La Croix-Rousse, France   † 27 December 1867, London, England

Antoine Claudet was a daguerreotypist and inventor who played a significant role in the popularisation of stereoscopy. He learned the daguerreotype process directly from Louis Daguerre and obtained a licence to practise the process in England. In 1851, he was introduced to the Brewster-type stereoscope, after which he began producing stereo daguerreotypes.

Claudet introduced improvements to the daguerreotype process that allowed shorter exposure times and made the technique suitable for portrait photography. His hand-coloured daguerreotype portraits, produced in a studio with decorated backgrounds, are regarded as being of high quality.

Claudet also designed several improvements to the stereoscope. These were recorded in two patents containing different technical ideas. Patent no. 711, the first English patent related to the stereoscope, describes several designs for viewing cases, one of which was realised in practice. His second patent, no. 515, describes curved side panels for the Brewster-type stereoscope intended to reduce internal reflections, and also includes a design for inter-ocular adjustment. This patent also contains the first design for a multi-view stereoscope.

Short after his death, his studio, "Temple of Photography" at 107 Regent Street, was destroyed by fire, resulting in the loss of much of his photographic material.

Related items:
Brewster-type stereoscope  Claudet patent curved sides  Claudet viewing case  Daguerreotype  Daguerreotypist   Inter-ocular adjustment  Multi-view stereoscope

Company addresses:

Patents and registrations:

Number: 711
Filing: 23-03-1853, Applicant(s): Antoine Claudet

Number: 515
Filing: 08-03-1855, Applicant(s): Antoine Claudet

Further reading: