Optisch speelgoed - 1800-1850 - Frankrijk - Polyorama panoptique

The Polyorama Panoptique was an optical toy popular from the 1820s untill the 1850s. It was a development from the earlier "protean view". The viewing device was based on Daguerre's Diorama, of which it was a small-scale version intended for domestic use. It consisted of a portable box designed to take printed and painted views. By changing from light to dark a scene might appear to change from a daytime to a nighttime view, here showing the battle on Constade, (Kronstadt), Russia. Kronstadt is a fortified Russian port city on Kotlin Island in the eastern Gulf of Finland. The city is located approximately 30 kilometers west of St. Petersburg. It was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as a naval base to defend the new capital, St. Petersburg, from seaborne attacks. These views came in 5 or 6 sizes, but the view on offer here is of exceptionally large size, 33.5 x 26 cm. Some repair visible on back