[Optical illusion disc with man pumping water] – Antique Wall Art
![[Optical illusion disc with man pumping water], Haymarket, [London] : Pubd. by T. McLean, 1833. — antique lithograph](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/e1/e1e395612284-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Few images capture their era like this antique lithograph of [Optical illusion disc with man pumping water]. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.
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[Optical illusion disc with man pumping water]
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A hand-colored lithographic disc from 1833, this one pairs a spinning device with a figure of a man working a pump. Spun on its axis, the disc makes the figure appear to move in a circle along its outer edge, a trick of persistence of vision that depended on the viewer's eye blending rapid successive images into one continuous motion. It was issued by Thomas McLean, a London print and toy publisher who sold such optical novelties as parlor entertainments, and it was later reissued in his collection of optical illusions. The choice of a water pump as the subject ties the toy to the everyday labor of drawing water that many households still did by hand.
| Created / published | Haymarket, [London] : Pubd. by T. McLean, 1833. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print on disc : lithograph, hand-colored ; 24 cm. |
| Genre | Optical toys English 1830-1840.Lithographs Hand-colored 1830-1840. |
| Notes | The disc is spun displaying the illusion of motion of a man pumping water in a circle at the outer edge of the disc. Published in: McLean's optical illusions; or magic panorama. London, T. McLean, 1833. Exhibited: American Treasures of the Library of Congress. |
| Subjects | Human locomotion--1830-1840. Water pumps--1830-1840. Optical illusions--1830-1840. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 4,726 × 3,766 px · prints to 16 × 13 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-221554 |
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