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Spratt Brothers | Clydesdale Set | English | Quarter Plate

ENGLISH FIELD CAMERA. 1895. This camera, known as 'The Clydesdale Set', is commonly found in Britain with no other label than the word 'Patent'. It is known to have been sold by various retailers, but nobody ever seems to have found out who the maker was. This one, bought from France, has the label 'S.B.Patent', a label I have never previously seen, and which makes not entirely impossible the suggestion that Spratt Brothers, strictly wholesale makers to the trade, may have been the maker and patentee, selling to French retailers under their own 'S.B.' label. They merged with Houghtons in 1904. Since writing this, it has been confirmed by other collectors that the patent, 3634/1885, by Spratt Brothers, refers to this camera, and so my hunch was correct.

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