Peep box
A peep box is a hinged, box-like diorama made of paper for the three-dimensional representation of mostly city or landscape scenes.
The peep box is similar in its function to the peep box , but resembles the paper theater in terms of dimensions and material . The viewer looks from the front into a frame, behind which a scenery is statically represented in several levels using a shift in perspective. The specialty of a peep box is that it can be opened and closed like a folding card. Today it is mainly used as a souvenir for well-known cityscapes, for example for Braunschweiger Burgplatz. Peep boxes are more often used for views from southern Germany.
history
The peep box probably found its greatest use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The small dioramas, mainly colored copperplate engravings, were reserved for the wealthy middle class. The necessity or the pleasure of a peep box was probably replaced by technical innovations and more sophisticated options for displaying city and country views and production was discontinued. It was not until the 1980s that the peep box was rediscovered as a souvenir by the Nuremberg artist Ernst Feist .
Manufacturing
Due to the relatively low demand and the resulting lack of mass production, peep boxes are made by hand. Gluing the individual levels in particular requires a high degree of accuracy. Since the layers appear as stripes on the inside, the handcraft of the producer as well as the original picture decides on the successful effect. Several drafts are necessary in order to make a final selection, not least in order to do justice to the perspective and the appropriate light / shadow conditions. However, modern image processing allows some design options here.
See also
Web links
- VKA-Verlag (manufacturer of peep boxes)
- Pollidor's Paper Curiosa (Dealer)
- Instructions for setting up the peep box (4 images)