Magic lantern

Manufacturer	David Benda / Hamburger & Co.
Name	LUNA
Place	Fürth (Germany) / New York (EEUU)
Date	1903
Register	00613

This magic lantern for domestic use, with a ceramic body and beautiful illustrations of children playing, is an example of the preponderance of design over the technical quality of the projection. Lanterns of this type, which today are very scarce and highly sought after by collectors, were sold in seven different sizes and three models of finishes. They were characterised by not having a clear mark embedded in the body of the device, which is why the manufacture was initially attributed to the Nuremberg company Johann Falk, but recent research has discovered that it was patented in 1903 by David Benda, from the German city of Fürth. Some of the lanterns, such as the one in the photograph, have an additional mark: “Patented in USA”. The patent in the United States was also registered in 1903 by Simon Hamburger, of New York, on behalf of the company Hamburger & Co. It is likely, therefore, that some of these lanterns manufactured in Germany were exported to the United States.

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