Tailboard camera

1880s

Lens:

Darlot achromatic landscape, 7" back focus. Two pivoting stops and a shutter plate. Serial no. 29691 .

Shutter:

Pivoting mounted on the lens.

Construction:

Mahogany, finger joints. Red leather bellows with square corners.

Format:

6 ½" x 4 ¾" plates held in double dark slides. Landscape format.

Focusing:

Bellows. Single extension with worm screw movement to rear standard.

Attributes:

'Meagher' side support.

Movements:

Rising front.

Notes:

The lens glass is signed Darlot and carries his cypher. It is also marked '4' and has an additional number, possibly |8||2 or 18112. The serial number is engraved on the barrel.

With:

Two dark slides.

The Darlot lens was probably made in the late 1860s, the camera was made some time later, probably in the mid 1880s. The lens flange is similar in finish to the lens, it has been fixed to the lens board and moved a few degrees, i.e. there are two sets of screw holes that both align with the flange. It is impossible to say whether the lens has always been with the camera, but it would be unusual to replace a lens with a much earlier one. Possibly the camera was fitted with a second-hand lens when first purchased.

Early Photography