The name STANHOPE is after Charles
Stanhope (English, 1753-1816). His invention was a very (very)
small glass-cylinder-lens with a micro picture thus allowing very small
objects to contain a tiny picture (and even more than one). After
the photographic proccess was mature (in the 1850s) the stanhopes started
to conatin small real photos. Collectors of Stanhopes have a variety of
stanhopes to collect: (form, materials and subjects) nude, touristic scenes
(like French cities and Niagara-Falls) to religious or just cute tiny objects&photos.
The objects were made from a variety of materials (cheap or expensive)
ivory, bone, metal, plastic, wood , gold and in fact almost any material.
left/down: an early bone binoculars with 6
photos of an unreconized town scenes. right/down:
A metal cross pendant
with a tiny stanhope of the Lords prayer. top: A dip pen/letter-opener
with a stanhope. Right: Zoom-in a stanhope showing views of Moffat (France). Just to have
a feeling of a Stanhope's size...