Giroux Daguerreotype Camera

National Collection of Qatar

Currently not on display

Title:: Giroux Daguerreotype Camera

Designer:: Louis J. Daguerre
Maker:: Alphonse Giroux et Cie
Manufacturer:: Alphonse Giroux et Cie

Production place:: Paris
Date:: 1839
Period:: 19th century CE

Material:: Wood, Metal, Glass, Textile, Paper, Wax
Technique:: Woodworking
Dimensions:: 31.5 × 37.2 × 58.5 cm

This is a rare surviving example of an early Giroux daguerreotype camera, produced under Daguerre’s guidance and sold as a complete photographic kit with a Chevalier lens. Constructed from sliding cedar boxes with a brass-mounted lens and manual shutter, it produced full-plate images (165 × 216 mm). This camera bears an unusual ‘UV’ inscription, of unknown meaning.