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Posted 22 months, 18 days ago
baaabsstuff
(16 items)
I no longer have this pen, but would still be interested in any information anyone would like to share. It is actually a pen nib holder. I have dated it to before 1900 (or whatever year it became illegal to use real ivory) If you look a the one end, there is a ball with a hole in it. If you look through the hole you saw tiny pictures of attractions in Atlantic City. One is Lucy the Elephant that is now in Margate, NJ and several other early buildings. I know that my grandfather vacationed there as a very young man. (I have a postcard he sent to my grandmother in 1904, before they were married.) He lived in Baltimore.
Those antique peep-viewers are called STANHOPES -- Stanhopes, or 'peeps', are miniature microphotographic lenses incorporated in many novelty collectibles produced from the mid-19th century onwards.
Excerpt from an article about STANHOPES --
contain a Stanhope lens. The lens itself is a polished glass rod approximately 7 mm in length and 3 mm in diameter. One end is convex, outwardly curved, to allow high magnifications for a short focal length. Fixed to the flat end is a small disc of glass (same diameter and less than 2 mm wide) with its picture (See Picture #1). By holding the lens with the convex side towards you very close to the eye, one can see the image contained in the lens. This is all quite amazing since the picture covers only about one-third of the cross-sectional area. In addition to single images of famous people or places, some show multiple views on a particular subject such as scenes of St. Louis or views of Niagara Falls.
The name Stanhope comes from the lens’ inventor, Lord Charles Stanhope, third Earl Stanhope of England (1753-1816). He was both inventor and politician. Not until 1860, however, with the invention of the miniature camera did the Stanhope lens enter the public eye.
Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.stanhopemicroworks.com/library/stanhopesworldinmini.htm
See a similar pieces here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fB-jylUY2tAJ:www.etsy.com/listing/42051783/hand-carved-bone-or-ivory-stanhope+stanhope+ivory&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/2-ivory-stanhope-viewers-columbian-exposition
http://marketplace.amazia.com/stanhopemicroworks/depthome.asp?page=132
http://completed.shop.ebay.com/Photographic-Images-/14277/i.html?rt=nc&LH_Complete=1&_nkw=Stanhope&_catref=1&_dmpt=Art_Photo_Images&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283&_rdc=1
Thanks for all of the wonderful information... wish I'd have found this site BEFORE I sold the pen, I think somebody got a deal for very little money....because I just didn't do enough "homework"...
...so have we all :)
Yes, I have sold many things for too little $$, but then I think of all the killer deals I have found! What goes around, comes around -- it's all good!
BTW ... this was likely not Ivory but bone. All I have seen were made out of bone. Maybe that will console you a little. My first experience with Stanhopes was a charm my Grandmother had on her gold charm bracelet. It was a small church building and in the church tower was the lens. Looking through the lens you could read the "Lord's Prayer." When my Grandfather passed my mother got the bracelet. Later she divided up the charms amongst my brother and I and that was one of the charms I got.