1336
By moving the lenses horizontally and vertically it was
possible to produce 450 images on one slide. These were
then cut into individual square parts with a diamond
tool creating images about 1/30 inch square. Onto each
image was glued a tiny lens, 1/4 to 1/3 inch in length,
and then the corners of the glass unit were ground off
making the unit cylindrical. The glue used was Canada
balsam which was clear when it dried. The fi nished
piece is usually about 1/10 inch by 1/3 inch, though
some Stanhopes were made in larger sizes.
The focal length of the lens equals the length of
the lens, so to be in focus, the image must be in direct
contact with the fl at end of the lens. To view the im-
age, it is necessary to hold the curved end very close
to your eye and direct the fl at side of the lens toward
a light source. Sometimes this is best with direct light,
but in other instances diffused light or light refl ected
off a white surface is best. Since the Stanhope contains
its own magnifying lens, most people fi nd it easier to
view without the aid of eyeglasses. Often many scenes
will appear in a Stanhope, but if there is a single lens it
is still only a single Stanhope image. In a real multiple
Stanhope item there will be different lenses for each
Stanhope.
Today the term refers to both the images and the
items containing them. Images can be souvenir sights,
religious locations or prayers, political personalities,
advertising information or nudes. Certain types of
items tend to be from specifi c geographic regions.
Satin spar barrels or similar objects have Niagara Falls
images. Items of bog oak come from Ireland. Hoof or
horn objects come from Austria or Switzerland and
have mountain scenes. The age of many Stanhopes
can be determined because the images commemorate
datable events. These include celebrations, famous
exhibitions and world’s fairs. Political Stanhopes also
can be dated by establishing election years for the
people pictured.
Stanhopes appear in a great variety of articles. Most
abundant are crosses, which always have some type of
religious image. Common, too, are dip pens and letter
openers made of carved wood or bone. The images
included are usually locations since these were travel
souvenirs. Miniature bone binoculars and telescopes,
with nearly every type of image, also are frequently
found. Less common are sewing and needlework imple-
ments, smoking items, jewelry, writing instruments,
bookmarks, grooming tools, knives and assorted other
trinkets. Canes, beer steins, and violin bows are among
the larger items one can fi nd with Stanhopes. Although
some museums have a few Stanhopes, none permits
viewing the images. It is possible to do this only in
private collections.
The largest and most valuable Stanhopes are dolls.
Fewer than twelve are known to exist, all in museums
or private doll collections. These dolls are all attributed
to Antoine Edmond Rochard, who gained a French pat-
ent for them in 1867. They were produced through the
1870s. Most of them have multiple Stanhopes which
appear in the bisque bodice. Some of the Stanhope lenses
in these dolls are larger than those usually found. The
known dolls are all different, varying in looks, height
and necklace design. The number of Stanhopes in the
dolls ranges from a single one to the thirty in Miss Jewel,
owned by the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum in
Rochester, New York.
Several problems can occur in Stanhopes. The lenses
sometimes fall out of their housings or the plate with
the collodion image separates from the lens. This can
be due to the deterioration of the Canada balsam which
can dry out. If an item is washed the image will usually
be lost because of separation. Sometimes the Canada
balsam darkens. At other times bubbles appear in the
image, but this probably happened in the production
of the unit.
Stanhopes are no longer made, partly because the
entire process was labor intensive. The last known
Stanhope lens factory, in France, closed in 1972. For
awhile they were produced in parts of Eastern Europe.
In the twenty-fi rst century people are fabricating images
that they call Stanhopes, but they are not traditional
Stanhopes.
Bobbi London
See also: Brewster, Sir David; Dancer,
John Benjamin; Photographic Jewelry; and
Microphotography.Further Readings
Dagron, René Prudent Patrice.,Cylindres Photo-Microscopiques:
Montés et Non Montés Sur Bijoux [Microscopic Photos:
Mounted and Unmounted In Jewels], Paris: Dagron & Cie,
1862.
Kessler, Mike, “Stanhopes: Collecting Photographic Jewels,” in
The New York-Pennsylvania Collector, Volume XXI, No. 8,
October, 1997, pp. 8A–12A.
London, Bobbi, “A Visit With a Stanhope Doll” in The Photog-
raphist, Number 104, Winter 1994–95, pp. 4–5, 23.
Luther, Frederic, Microfi lm: A History 1839–1900, Annapolis,
MD: The National Microfi lm Association, 1959.
Scott, Jean. Stanhopes: A Closer View, Essex, United Kingdom:
Greenlight Publishing, 2002.
White, William. The Microdot: History and Application, Wil-
liamstown, NJ: Phillips Publications, 1992.STEICHEN, EDWARD (1879–1973)
Edward Steichen, born Eduard Jean, Luxembourg, im-
migrated to the United States in 1881. At 16 he took
up photography in 1895 while studying painting at the