1790 METAL ARTICULATED SHADES FRANÇOIS DOMINIQUE SÉRAPHIN (1747-1800) In 1790 Séraphin introduced moving Articulated Iron Shadows during the Revolution. Pictured is a Donkey shaking his head, opening his mouth, and walking. Automaton-esque moving entertainment.

SEE the Marvellous Altar from the Museum of Automata in York England (physically closed since 1996). You will see how it works through heat convection.

THE SMICROSCOPIN DISK OF 1671 Preceding the revolving disks of the 19th century, Kircher included his own illustration of a peculiar mechanism for presenting graphic stories in spherical form in the 1671 edition of his Ars Magna. He referred to this as a Smicroscopin. The Smicroscopin was a visual storytelling device that used a circular surface holding a sequence of pictures to narrate a story.

1820 OMBRASCOPES AND WHITE SHADOWS The Ombrascope falls within a multitude of Victorian pre cinema optical toys closely related to Shadow Puppetry. So much so they could be kissing cousins. Image the François Binétruy Collection. In the early 1800s, such devices were typically used in domestic settings or small gatherings to cast Silhouettes or shadow figures onto a surface, often using candlelight or early oil lamps. They were part of the broader fascination with optics and visual effects during the Regency period, aligning with the development of other pre cinematic technologies. For example, Shadow Plays or ‘ombres chinoises’ (Chinese shadows) were popular in Europe, and an Ombrascope might have been a specific tool or toy marketed for creating very similar effects, possibly involving cutout figures or translucent cards.