ANTIQUE TOYS

Shadow Art is a special type of sculpture that uses light to reveal a whole new fourth dimension. This sculpture was called "Best Friend" and illustrates the connection between horse and man. The horse usually represents power, strength and beauty. Horses are one of the most prominent symbols in the Middle East, where the creators and laureates in this type of art come from. "Horses give us superpowers: speed, pulling power, height, and if we’re smart enough to notice, a deep and complicated companionship."

Jacob's Ladder is an ancient optical illusion toy. Create the Jacob's Ladder effect by holding the top block with the single ribbon facing outwards. Then rotate your wrist forwards and backwards. The wooden panels will appear to cascade down.The name "Jacob's Ladder" comes from the biblical ladder to heaven mentioned in Genesis 28:12.

The Thaumatrope is an optical toy that was invented by John Ayrton Paris in England in 1824. It contains a disc with two different images on each side and two strings attached to both ends of each one of them. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers, the two pictures become as one due to the persistence of vision. The Thaumatrope was the predecessor of Zoetrope and Praxinoscope which are popular animation devices from the recent past.

The Zoetrope was invented in 1834 by the British mathematician William George Horner. It consists of a series of drawings printed on strips of paper, that is to be placed inside the rounded drum. As the Zoetrope rotates, the images seem to come to life. Just try to look at them through the vertical slits of the cylinder and you will get a vivid animation right before your eyes!

Size: 18х12х12см.

We present to you the newest member of the praxinoscope family, with all of his elder brothers' "genetics." It's a tiny device (only 12 cm in diameter and another 12 cm in height), however still serves its purpose perfectly - to present the illusion of movement. It comes with 30 different animations in 15 reversible bands. You can also design your own drawings, if you dare and if you consider yourself a talented artist. The little praxinoscope comes with a booklet that explains the history of these fascinating devices and how they led to the emergence of cinema at the end of the nineteenth century. A beautiful gift for people of all ages, however considering its parameters, the mini praxinoscope will feel at its best in the hands of the little ones.

The musical praxinoscope is a modern take on French inventor Emile Raynaud's 19th-century animation gadget. The circus scenes on the musical praxinoscope are typical of this form of art from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The device has 15 paper strips that have illustrations on both sides which means a total of 30 animation options. The drawings are an identical reproduction of Raynaud's first graphics, developed for his invention back in the day. This amazing toy also comes with four animations from Edward Maybridge's phenakistoscope, as well as full operating instructions. Richard Rodgers' "The Carousel Waltz" is the music that accompanies the astonishing effect of this old-school animation device. This is a well-known track from the old Hollywood movie “Carousel”, released in 1956.

The Praxinoscope is a device used for animation. It is the successor of the Zoetrope. It was invented in France in 1877 by Charles-Emile Raynaud. Similar to the Zoetrope, it uses a strip of images placed around the inner surface of a rotating cylinder. In comparison to the Zoetrope, the Praxinoscope uses more advanced technology by replacing the narrow viewing slots with an inner circle of mirrors. Looking at them, you can see a sequence of images, creating the illusion of movement.

Myriorama was created in XIX century with the initial idea to educate and entertain children. It turned out to be very interesting for adults as well. It contains a set of illustrated cards that can be arranged and rearranged forming different pictures. No matter the order in which you place the different parts, the picture that is formed will always make sense.

Myriorama was created in XIX century with the initial idea to educate and entertain children. It turned out to be very interesting for adults as well. It contains a set of illustrated cards that can be arranged and rearranged forming different pictures. No matter the order in which you place the different parts, the picture that is formed will always make sense.

La Toupie Fantoches is an optical toy invented by Emile Raynaud in 1881 and is a modification of his first invention: The Praxinoscope. It consists of four mirrors with triangular shape that form a pyramid. Paper disks with different images are placed on the top of the pyramid, so that each illustration stands against the corresponding mirror. When you rotate the disc, the image seems to come to life.