Harry (Wooster, OH) 1893 (patent for tool) Harry's Electric Retouching Device
Cabinet card Capitol Gallery Auction, 28 September 2016, Lot 47
Auction description (Accessed: 28 September 2016)
The tool was created by the photographer of this image Albert S. Harry. The patent for this device, issued in 1893, is available online at http://www.google.com/patents/US491171 . We simply love the crude electrical lines which are done in such a rudimentary fashion when compared to today's requirements! Two wound coils are clearly seen on the opposite side of the tool. The photographer has gone above and beyond in presenting this still life by showing a hand holding the tool ready for use. It shows his creativity as we usually see these models blandly sitting on a table next to the inventor. To impress us even more the hand and machine show such sharp and incredible detail we swear you could grab this person's fingerprint from a scan and identify the subject using current technology.
