Pandora's Box #8 (1995)

'Pandora's Box' is a COLLECTORS VINTAGE (1995) large and curiously delightful parlor kaleidoscope by renowned American artist Don Doak. This scope was built entirely from the most spectacular black rainbow obsidian glass with a mirror-like reflective surface. The two slumped glass panels at the top of the body each feature a portrait etched into the surface, one side is Sir David Brewster, inventor of the first kaleidoscope (among many other lifetime accomplishments), the other is Cozy Baker, who has written multiple books on Kaleidoscopes (including the very first one!) and has been an advocate for scopes and their makers for decades. Inside the body is a patented mirror system that creates a Dodecahedron, a three-dimensional geometric shape that has 12 flat faces. The viewing port is huge and is inside of a recessed, velvet lined, view finder that your forehead and nose bridge should set lightly against as you push and hold the little blue button on it's right side to activate the self illuminating (powered by 2 DC batteries, hidden in a compartment inside the base) kaleidoscopic imagery. Turn the giant glass object cell, containing Don's own handmade lamp-worked glass pieces, to see all of the mysterious secrets Pandora has released in the GLORIOUS 3-D mandala-style kaleidoscopic imagery floating inside. Included are THREE different object wheels, one is empty with a latched door so you can fill it with your own baubles, beads, and other little items. This wondrous 31 year old masterpiece is in PRISTINE condition and measures approximately 16.5"T x 19"L x 12"W and is 10"Square at the base. Titled (Pandora's Box - Limited Edition), numbered (#8 of 27), and signed (DDoak) by the artist.

Please note: All internal images were shot by setting a camera/phone into the viewing shadow box but actually looking into the viewing port with your own eyes is 100x better than the phone could capture. The empty cell had random items from around our store placed inside of it for photographing purposes. 

About the artist: Don has obtained a patent for the precision "magnetic mirror cutting board" he created in order to get the accuracy in cutting absolutely straight lines and perfect angles he desired, thus allowing him to build his patented mirror systems which make the complicated three dimensional illusions for which he is famous. When Don makes a scope every technique he uses is self taught. Nothing is sent out to a machine shop for a computer assisted result, nor does anyone else do his glass lamp-working. He believes that this is why his scopes always look different from most others. Don also designs and builds most of his own tools including his own electric furnace for bending and shaping large pieces of glass. His motto is "while most artists try to march to a different drummer I prefer to go where no drummer has ever been."

From the artist: "I build my scopes to suit me first. I never worry about selling them. Everything you see on and in my scopes comes from within me, so when someone buys one of my scopes they are getting a piece of my soul."