#Exhibit of the Month

The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm.
The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s.
The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM.
Brief History of the Camera
The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality.
The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia.
The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.

Virtual Tour

March 2023

The anthropomorphic figurine from Cealîc

The anthropomorphic figurine belongs to the Eneolithic period - the middle of the 5th millennium BC. It was discovered in a fragmentary state, during the archaeological excavations, carried out by I. Manzura and B. Govedaritsa in 2012, in the settlement of Cealîc, Taraclia district. The fragments of the figurine were found among pieces of burnt clay paste, in the southern part of a dwelling, which most likely represented a special place for religious ceremonies. This hypothesis is also supported by the presence near the figurine of seven small cups, decorated with incised ornament, which were apparently used for ritual libations.

The figurine is made of fine clay paste, mixed with crushed ceramic, and its surface is covered with a layer of light brown engobe. It is made in a realistic manner, traditional for the Gumelnița culture, and shows a female figure in a vertical position, with folded and raised arms, in the so-called "Oranta" pose, which is widespread in the Orthodox iconographic tradition, when the image of the Mother of God is depicted. The figure's head placed on a tall cylindrical neck has a flattened shape, the nose is represented by a vertical belt, and the eyes - by two holes. The body is flattened, widening sharply at the bottom. On the surface of the body, the chest and navel are well highlighted. The buttocks and legs are well contoured and decorated in a voluminous manner. The surface of the buttocks is decorated with spiral-shaped incisions, and the thighs - with vertical and oblique incisions. A horizontal belt can be seen below the knees, which possibly represents the upper part of the footwear of the type of high boots. On the arms and in the lower part of the body there are holes, intended for hanging some accessories.

Anthropomorphic figurines belong to the category of cult objects and, according to specialists, are associated with various ritual ceremonies. In archaeological sites from the Neolithic and Eneolithic eras, they are usually found in contexts related to the mythical world of gods or otherworldly ancestors. Figurines are usually found near houses ovens or hearths, in places considered to be located on the border between worlds. In the funerary practice of those times, female figurines are usually associated with the burials of children under 10-12 years old, who, according to the visions of the ancients, still partially belong to the other world. It is believed that in the religious structures of prehistoric farmers, female anthropomorphic images were associated with the cult of fertility and rebirth. These possibly depicted the Great Mother Goddess or fertility deity. According to some researchers, anthropomorphic figurines in general could be associated with ancestor worship.

Figure dimensions: Height - 195 mm, Maximum width - 84 mm.
Cultural affiliation: Gumelnița A Culture, Bolgrad-Aldeni Variant,
Date: approx. 4600-4400 BC

#Exhibit of the Month

Folding bellows camera, “Agfa Isolar Luxus”. AGFA Company, Munich, Germany, 1928

March 2023

The anthropomorphic figurine from Cealîc

#Exhibit of the Month