SOUVENIRS FROM THE GREAT WAR.....STANHOPES............

[sommewalker]

STANHOPES............

were invented in France ,
Stanhopes or Stanho-scopes are optical devices that enable the viewing of microphotographs without using a microscope. They were invented by René Dagron in 1857. Dagron bypassed the need for an expensive microscope to view the microscopic photographs by attaching the microphotograph at the end of a modified Stanhope lens. He called the devices bijoux photo-microscopiques or microsco...pic photo-jewelry. In 1862, Dagron displayed the devices at the Exhibition in London, where he got an "Honourable Mention" and presented them to Queen Victoria. In 1864 Dagron became famous when he produced a stanhope optical viewer which enabled the viewing of a microphotograph 1 square millimetre (0.0016 sq in), (equivalent in size to the head of a pin), that included the portraits of 450 people
this particular one shows 4 churches adjacent to the main battlefields in France,
the photos were taken using a digital microscope ,
they are much clearer when viewed with the naked eye ,
the main cross is hand carved from animal bone as are the plain beads and the intricately carved other beads,
France being mainly a catholic country its easy why they chose a rosary ,
what it does show is the technical skill of the carvers and the usage of materials to hand , as animal bones were easier to come by than say ivory,
at a fraction of the cost,
another way of collecting ww1 militaria , and something different from the mainstream items like bombs and bullets