American, late 19th Century by James H Smith of Chicago, USA. this is the company’s ‘magic’ stand, originally patented in 1884, constructed of heavy oak the stand adopts a clever belt-driven counter-sprung elevation adjustment with automatic roller stop to lock the mechanism at any chosen height, the elevation of the platform can be set using the heavily engineered lock nut at the front, stand height adjustable from 85cm to 115cm top platform measures 71cm x 47cm.

The stand sits on its original castors (replaced with newer ones for ease of movement but comes with the originals)

James Smith, formed his company in 1867 and made photographic ‘sundries’ including camera stands, tripods, posing stools and darkroom equipment. He also pioneered ‘Victor’ flash powder - said to be 24 times brighter than the leading flash powders of the day - but the invention was nearly his downfall after two successive fires in 1901 virtually destroyed his premises.