TIME AND INSTANTANEOUS SHUTTER - MODEL OF 1892
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, Rochester, New York 1892 - 1897
Pending more information, I've designated this shutter
the "Time & Instantaneous
Shutter - Model of 1892", based
upon its believed year of introduction. Its uniquely identifying feature is the
number of levers employed and their arrangement. The lever at top behind the speed dial cocked
the shutter, the lever at right selected either time or instantaneous exposures
and the lever at left above the pneumatic release valve is the manual
release. The dial at top is marked
"0", "1", "2" and "3", for the
shutter's four speed settings:
Dr. Rudolf Kingslake indicated the shutter was made about
1892, referring to it as the "Vici",
taken from the name seen on its aperture scale. The speed dial,
as seen in Kingslake's photo below, is marked "Sunart Photo Co." Kingslake was hired
as the Chief Lens Designer for Eastman Kodak in 1937. After 32
years, many of which were spent leading Eastman's Optical Department, he
retired in 1969. Later working with the George Eastman House as it
was then known, he helped in cataloging part of their Technology
Collection. In an article titled "The Bausch & Lomb
Shutters", written for the Western Photographic Collector's Association's
journal, The Photographist, Summer, 1981, Dr.
Kingslake outlines Bausch & Lomb's earliest shutters, profiled from a
collection of early shutters given to the George Eastman House by Bausch & Lomb.
Highlighted were many that reached production, along with this "Time &
Instantaneous Shutter - Model of 1892", and several prototypes that were
never marketed.
Bausch
& Lomb's Time & Instantaneous Shutter - Model of 1892 Source: The Photographist, Summer, 1981
The Time & Instantaneous Shutter - Model of 1892
featured here has the "Sunart" name on the shutter's aperture scale, along with
"Bausch & Lomb Optical Co." just below the lens. In practice, shutters by Bausch & Lomb
and other makers were often tagged with either the shutter's name, the camera's
name or the camera manufacturer's name.
In the case of this example found on a Sunart Vici 5x7, Bausch & Lomb applied the company's name to
the aperture scale. Other than its shutter
speed designations, the speed dial is unmarked:
Sunart Vici 5x7 camera with the Time & Instantaneous Shutter - Model
of 1892
The Vici was one
of three models (Veni, Vidi, Vici) manufactured by the Sunart Photo Company in
the 1890's. The shutter's reported 1892
introduction is reinforced by the Sunart Vici's 1893 introduction, suggesting
the camera and shutter to be period-correct. The Sunart Vici 5x7 shown here,
having an overall heavier construction with tubular guide rails, places its
manufacture in the earliest years of the company established in 1893. Later
Sunart models would be lighter and less elaborate, trending toward the
cycle-style cameras that emerged in the mid-to-late 1890's. The Time &
Instantaneous Shutter - Model of 1892's general construction is also indicative
of the early to mid-1890's period, when other makers such as Gundlach were also beginning to utilize levers on their
shutters.
Little else is known about the
Time & Instantaneous Shutter - Model
of 1892. But looking back on the history of Bausch & Lomb's shutters,
that both preceded and succeeded this model, it's doubtful they would have
built the shutter solely for Sunart.
Possibly, Sunart was the first and only company whose cameras were ever
equipped with them, before the shutter's design was quickly abandoned.
With no other references or
advertisements found, and these being the only two physical examples I've ever encountered,
production was initially thought to have lasted for maybe a year or so. New
information as reflected in the updates below, now suggests that the shutter may
have been made for at least four or five years, unless Andrew J. Lloyd &
Co. obtained new old stock from Bausch & Lomb to outfit their
private-branded cameras. Not as glitzy a
shutter as Bausch & Lomb's earlier Diaphragm models, but very rare
nonetheless.
UPDATE 1
Since the above information
was put together, a new example of this shutter having a rotary aperture (or
wheel stop) was discovered:
This example appears
identical, the only differences being the rotary aperture versus the iris
aperture seen on the "Sunart Vici" version above, and the lack of an
aperture scale. This may present some conflict in the Model of 1892's initially believed timeline, since wheel stops on
some shutters such as Bausch & Lomb's Victor, seem to be the norm up until
1896 when iris apertures replaced them. Bausch & Lomb's original model of
the Unicum Shutter, also reported to have been introduced in 1893, was also
equipped with wheel stops, followed by the Unicum Model of 1897 with an iris.
With the Model of 1892 being a Bausch & Lomb product, as well, it's
presumed that all the company's shutters would have followed the same
progression from the wheel stop to the iris, and not vice versa. Gundlach Optical Company's shutters of the
same period, also follow a similar pattern.
This all tends to reinforce,
that this wheel stop version of the Model of 1892 pre-dates the iris version.
With wheel stops beginning to appear on some shutters by 1891 and iris
apertures coming into general use by 1895/1896, the timeline for Bausch &
Lomb's Model of 1892 Shutter as well as the Sunart Vici Camera (featured on
this website) will most likely push forward by a few years.
UPDATE 2
Adding to the above
information, the shutter is also seen on the "Lloyd" Camera, being
named the "Lloyd Shutter" and equipped with an iris aperture. The
"Lloyd" Camera was marketed by the Andrew J. Lloyd & Company,
appearing in their 1897 catalogue. Previous to now, Bausch & Lomb's Model
of 1892 Shutter reportedly appeared briefly in 1892/1893 before being
discontinued. However, its appearance on the "Lloyd" Camera now suggests
that B&L's Model of 1892 had a much longer timeline, possibly being manufactured
for maybe four or five years into 1897 at least.