Die Fabrik (The Factory), a tinplate lantern c.1895 by Georges Carette, $1200 (£970) at Austin Auction Gallery.
After moving his operations to the German toymaking capital of Nuremberg, Carette made a series of different toy models from the basic to the elaborate.
Among his most creative models was Die Fabrik (The Factory), a tinplate lantern c.1895 made in the form of an industrial building and chimney.
A good example with much of its original paintwork and lithography intact came for sale at the Austin Auction Gallery (26% buyer’s premium) in Austin, Texas as part of an April 12 sale of Antique Cameras and Magic Lanterns.
It had an estimate of $1500-2500 and hammered at $1200 (£970).
The magic lantern was one of 517 lots from the collection of Sam Westfall, Texas.
Flagship version
Cone centralisateur camera lens by Jamin, $5000 (£4000) at Austin Auction Gallery.
Leading the sale was an early French camera lens - the cone centralisateur.
This petzval design with a large cone in the rear to avoid reflections was the flagship lens of instrument maker Theodore Jean Jamin and his business partner Darlot Alphonse.
First sold in 1854, it offered better optical quality then most of his rivals and could be used as both a portrait and a landscape lens.
Most examples carry the names of both Jamin and Darlot (who assumed control of the business in the early 1860s) or just the name Darlot.
Cone centralisateur camera lens by Jamin, $5000 (£4000) at Austin Auction Gallery, showing detail.
However, this one signed only for Jamin and his workshop at 14 Rue Chapon, Paris, has the early serial number 1730, dating it to the mid 1850s.
Estimated at $600-800, it took $5000 (£4000).
