We have always considered and collected these commercial masks and helmets as industries tribal art. Examples can be elegant in their simplicity or bazaar and complex. They are always unique, suprising and filled with personality.
Huge 32″ Geissler Rotator – Queen and Company.
This is the earlist spinnerA pair of Geissler tubes are connected to the arms of this rotator. While connected to a high voltage, which causes a discharge in the tubes, the arms are rotated, producing a spectacular display, especially in a darkened room. This device is signed Queen and Company and dates to the mid 1800s... $2200
James W. Queen & Company was an optical and scientific instrument company located at 924 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a branch office in New York City, and active in various forms from 1853-1925, and subsequently as Gray Instrument Company until 1952.
In 1853 Mr James W. Queen began in the city of Philadelphia a small business in optical and philosophical apparatus. In 1859 he joined with Mr. Samuel L. Fox, and under their personal supervision and management, the business steadily developed. In 1870 Mr James W. Queen retired, and Mr. S.L. Fox continued the business under the title of James W. Queen & Co. It continued under this name until 1893, when it was incorporated as Queen & Co. In 1912 the company was reorganized as the Queen-Gray Co. by John G. Gray and continued as such until Mr. Gray's death in 1925, after which it became the Gray Instrument Company.
