Thomas's Patent Box Tent
ManufacturerManufactured by
Richard W Thomas
Datec. 1860
Object NameTent
Mediumwood, textile (cotton), leather, metal (brass, lead), horsehair felt, photographic chemicals
ClassificationsPhotography
Dimensions50 x 53 x 93cm
LocationView by Appointment
Object numberABDMS040442
Keywords
The crate has cross bracing of wood and leather straps. The side, front, and back panels are wood covered in a heavy varnished canvas, which is at present a dark ochre in colour. A brass handle is on each end of the crate. The bottom rests on feet fashioned by iron bands bent into squared off U-shapes with a wooden trough slipped through their openings (the equivalent on the other side is missing). The trough lines up with a slot in the bottom of the crate, and it is accessible from the interior of the box tent.
The left, right, and back sides of the crate are fixed. The front side drops down on a hinge along its base. The top is split into two doors hinged to the crate's sides. Each swings up 90 degrees and extends the height of the sides of the box, held in place by hinges.
The top door on the right proper side has a little hinged door within it. The door opens to reveal a sliding window (adjustable from the interior of the crate) with a red membrane mounted next to a wood panel. The membrane was presumably opaque but is now brittle and discoloured. Sliding the window either left or right within the crate exposes more or less of the membrane to the open door, and so permits more or less red light into the crate. A latch hook fixes the sliding door in the closed position. The maker's label on yellow paper is stuck below the sliding window on the proper right interior of the crate.
The exterior, back side of the crate has a small door whose opening reveals another red membrane (this time fixed), which allows red light into the box interior. The inside of the small outer door has the maker's label on orange paper.
When the top doors and drop front are opened, a large canvas tent is found bundled into the crate. The top and back side edges of the tent are attached to the top doors and sides of the crate. The front of the tent unfurls and extends out from the top of the crate by 23 cm. It drops down 147 cm, going well below the drop-front door, and widens to 85 cm extending out in front of the crate. It also widens slightly in the front, being 73 cm in width at the top and 77 cm at the bottom. The tent would normally be supported in its open position by two wooden arms, one on each side of the crate. Each arm slides between two rails attached diagonally to the interior of each top door.
The tent is stained, dirty, and torn. The exterior fabric is heavy twill canvas of a dark brown colour. The seams are reinforced with red, twill cotton tape. The interior fabric lining is a lighter woven cotton. The interfacing between the layers is a heavy twill canvas that is black in colour. The upper sections of the canvas are badly torn and with previous losses presumably disposed of in the past. The fabric shears and rips with any disturbance.
The tent has several fittings. The interior of the tent, on the lower left and right front sides has two green twill tapes with matching hook-and-eye closures. In the top centre of the interior, there hangs a long loop of red twill tape.
Inside the tent and within the crate, there are two wooden boxes. The box on the proper right sits towards the front of the crate. Behind it is the trough in the floor. Along the side wall between them, an iron strap sticks out 10 cm from the wall. It has a hole near its end. Higher up on the side wall, above the maker's label, are two screws that jut out purposefully. The box on the proper left of the crate sits towards the back wall and has a hinged lid locked by a latch hook. It is subdivided into five compartments. Three are lined with thick felt made of horse hair.
George Washington Wilson
