Julius Laack Gazelle Tropical — Rare German Folding Plate Camera, ca. 1900–1910

A rare and highly appealing tropical folding plate camera by Julius Laack & Sohn of Rathenow, Brandenburg, stamped "Gazelle ges. gesch." on the embossed leather nameplate across the top of the body. Among the most elegant German plate cameras of the Wilhelmine era, the Gazelle tropical was conceived for photographers working in hot, humid climates — where standard leather-covered wood bodies would swell, crack, or delaminate. Here, the body is constructed from polished hardwood (consistent in grain and colour with mahogany or a similar tropical species), with all metal parts executed in lacquered brass rather than the nickel or japanned steel used on standard models.

The lens standard is carried on a heavy brass baseboard with a full complement of rise/fall and lateral shift movements, operated via milled brass knobs and rack-and-pinion gearing of notably fine quality. The lens fitted is a medium-format anastigmat with a recessed black-enamelled barrel, mounted in a LUSOSPA (or closely related period) rim-set shutter with speed markings visible at 100, 50, 25 and lower values including a Bulb/Time setting — a shutter type in use from approximately the mid-1900s onward, consistent with the camera's presumed manufacture date. The aperture scale engraved on the lens barrel reads in the older Continental system (f-stops visible include markings consistent with approximately f/6.8 or f/8 maximum aperture). A small wire sportsfinder frame is mounted above the lens board. The format appears to be 9 × 12 cm, the most prevalent European plate size of the period.

The rear of the camera is particularly well preserved. The hinged back panel opens to reveal a deep crimson velvet-lined interior and a retained ground-glass focusing screen complete with its hinged wooden protective frame fitted with an octagonal mirror element — an unusual and charming survival. The dark-slide light trap, formed from aged chamois-type leather, remains structurally intact though the leather has aged and softened. A brass key-type swing latch secures the rear door. The top spine carries the brass carrying handle and two sprung brass clasps for securing the front bed in the closed position.

Julius Laack & Sohn was established in Rathenow in 1884, in the heart of Germany's historic optical industry. The firm became known for a distinguished range of lenses — the Pololyt, Dialytar, and Spezialanastigmat series among them — and produced upward of half a million lenses before the Second World War. Tropical models such as the Gazelle represent the premium tier of Laack's output and appear rarely on the market in this state of completeness.

Material: Polished tropical hardwood body (appears to be mahogany or walnut), lacquered brass framework and fittings, black leather bellows, crimson velvet interior lining, ground-glass focusing screen, octagonal mirror screen panel