John Benjamin Dancer, Exceptionally Important & Fine Tinted Stereo Daguerreotype

English, c.1850, attributed to Dancer*, with black shellac passe-partout, contemporary taped edges grey paper back with trade lable for 'Carpenter & Westley Opticians 24 Regent St London', in an oak case, the image shows a seated gentleman in a hat and robe writing in a journal, he is surrounded by scientific instruments including a microscope, terrestrial globe, reflecting telescope, a octant, a Brewster stereoscope, a vacuume pump, a still and other items, according the the Victoria & Albert Museum " This hand-painted daguerreotype was made for friends, probably to showcase his achievements.",

For an almost identical stereo Daguerreotype, see http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O119158/scientist-in-his-laboratory-daguerreotype-dancer-john-benjamin/

J. B. Dancer: Photography in Three Dimensions and Miniature

John Benjamin Dancer (1812–1887), a Manchester-based scientific instrument maker, was a pioneering figure in the early history of photography. Trained in as a scientific instrument maker by his father , Dancer turned his technical skill to photographic experimentation almost immediately after the daguerreotype process was publicly announced in 1839¹.

Dancer became a leading inventor and practitioner in the emerging field of microphotography. He produced photographic images so small they could only be viewed through a microscope, creating novelties that captivated Victorian audiences and demonstrated the potential of photography as both science and spectacle².

In 1856, Dancer patented the stereoscopic camera (GB patent 2064/1856)³, a major innovation that enabled the creation of three-dimensional photographs using a camera with stereo lenses. He was among the first to produce stereo daguerreotypes, including these remarkable portrait images in his laboratory surrounded by microscopes and scientific instruments⁴. These unique images, including the one held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, offer a rare glimpse into both Dancer’s working world and the visual culture of Victorian science⁵.

Through his innovations in microphotography and stereoscopy, Dancer bridged the realms of precision instrumentation and popular photography. His legacy endures as a testament to the creative interplay between science, technology, and visual imagination in 19th-century Britain.

Footnotes:

1. The daguerreotype process was first announced in France in January 1839 and introduced to the British public shortly thereafter.
2. Dancer's microphotographs included texts and images reduced to sizes invisible to the naked eye, often mounted for viewing under microscopes or within novelty items.
3. GB Patent No. 2064 (1856) covered the design and use of a stereoscopic camera for creating paired images to be viewed in 3D.
4. Dancer's stereo daguerreotypes represent some of the earliest examples of three-dimensional portraiture in photography.
5. Scientist in His Laboratory (stereoscopic daguerreotype by J. B. Dancer), Victoria and Albert Museum, accession no. O119158. V&A Collections