Small Praxinoscope

In 1877, the French inventor Émile Reynaud patented a device he called the praxinoscope. The idea was simple and clever: set twelve mirrors in a ring at the centre of a rotating drum, facing a strip of drawings fixed to the drum's inner wall. As the drum spins, each mirror reflects a different drawing in quick succession, and the eye blends them into continuous motion. It is one of the founding principles of what would become cinema a few years later.

This reproduction follows the original mechanism closely. Twelve mirrors, a drum, a strip of pictures: one flick of the hand and the figures come to life. It ships with twenty animated picture strips and works straight out of the box, with nothing else to buy.

The Classic decor draws on late 19th-century circus scenes, acrobats and animals included. It gives the piece enough presence to sit on a shelf as happily as it spins on a table. The metal base and the hand assembly in Madrid keep it sturdy, which suits an object meant to be looked at as much as played with.

It will appeal to anyone curious about the history of technology, as well as fans of optics or animation, in a compact format: 19.5 cm (7.7 in) tall and 14.5 cm (5.7 in) in diameter.