Copper plate sliders magic lantern slides

Yesterday, we looked at a 1930s photographic lantern slide but the magic lantern is essentially a Victorian piece of technology, with its heyday in the 1890s. When today’s slide was made, Victoria was still a teenager, not yet our queen and photography hadn’t been invented.

It was made by Carpenter and Westley who were, in the opinion of many collectors, the finest makers of lantern slides ever. In the 1830s, they produced ‘copper plate sliders’ of which this is an example. The outline of the picture was printed on glass, then each one was hand painted, which was far more cost effective than painting the whole picture from scratch and was the earliest method of mass (well multi) production of lantern slides. This slide is in a mahogany frame and shows fashions from an earlier period. Later on, in the mid 19^th century, Carpenter and Westley’s hand painted slides were remarkable works of art and are very much sort after today. Almost two hundred years on, this slide is a delightful piece of British social history memorabilia.

If you found this interesting, please share it with your family and friends. If you’re not reading it on my ‘Magic Lantern World‘ website, then please visit. There are over one hundred illustrated articles about Victorian slide projection and links to my historical photo-booklets on Amazon, my Ebay shop for magic lantern slides and Etsy store for historical photo greetings cards with a twist. You can read about my authentic Victorian magic lantern shows and talks on ‘Optical entertainments before the movies’ and lots more!