Early leather Brewster style viewer.

Maroon leather-covered wood, lined with black velvet, brass, 20 x 16 x 11 cm.

This particular viewer is the one illustrated in Paul Wing. It is a very early Brewster-style hand-held viewer. The top loading model has brass eye pieces, fixed focus and lens spacing. It may be used for daguerreotypes and paper views in the 8,5 x 17,5 cm format. It includes Cooke's patented auxiliary lenses which may be used to aid shortsighted viewers. The viewer was retailed by the London Stereoscopic Company. A similar viewer is shown in the famous stereo portrait of Sir David Brewster. The box has a veneer of, among others, burl walnut and elm.
Ref. Wing, Paul - Stereoscopes. The first one hundred years. Nashua. 1996, p. 10.