Casket

Also known as: Cube

Region: United Kingdom    Period: 1850–1890    Tag: Swan
Stereoscope type: Hand-held » Single-view

The Casket is a unique and very rare stereoscope for miniature portraits. Two glass prisms are placed together to form a solid body with parallel sides. The left and right stereoscopic images are placed on, applied to, or near the adjacent inner sides of the prisms. When viewed through an unoccupied side, the system produces an image that appears solid and embedded in the glass. One image reaches one eye directly through the prisms; the other is reflected at the contact surfaces of the prisms and directed to the other eye. 

Related items: Prismatic lens

Specifications:

Introduction:
1862
Designer:
Henry Swan
Construction:
Velvet
Medium:
Opaque
Format:
Small formats
Lens:
Prismatic
Lens focus:
No
Inter-ocular adjustment:
No

Patents and registrations:

Number: 3249
Improvements in stereoscopic apparatus
Filing: 04-12-1862, Applicant(s): Henry Swan

Further reading:

  • Wing, Paul. Stereoscopes: The first one hundred years (1996) , p. 38-39
Published: 02-05-2026