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Object Timeline

1948

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2025

  • You found it!

Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Dancing Man, ca. 1835

This is a Optical toy. It was designed by Simon von Stampfer. It is dated ca. 1835 and we acquired it in 1948. Its medium is hand-colored lithograph on paperboard. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Mrs. John Innes Kane.

Its dimensions are

H x diam.: 25 × 25 cm (9 13/16 × 9 13/16 in.)

It is inscribed

Printed in black text, at outer perimeter: Prof. Stampfer’s Stroboscopische Scheibe. / XX / Vertag von Trentsensky & Vieneg in Wien u. Leipzig.

Cite this object as

Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Dancing Man, ca. 1835; Designed by Simon von Stampfer (Austrian, 1792 - 1864); hand-colored lithograph on paperboard; H x diam.: 25 × 25 cm (9 13/16 × 9 13/16 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Mrs. John Innes Kane; 1948-124-1

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18607977/ |title=Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Dancing Man, ca. 1835 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=4 November 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>