Not sure what this is?

[Mark MC]

Greetings from northwest New Mexico! I am hoping someone here can help identify what I have here. I recently "inherited" a collection of antique and vintage photography equipment and the attached "tool"? was found in the collection. Try as I might, I have been unable to figure out just what it is. Google Lens has not been effective. I am not even sure it is photography related. I know that Eastman Kodak assisted in the war effort with other products and this piece apparently dates to around 1917.

This "tool" is about 2" square and is made of metal. There is a solid ring that is about 1 5/8" in diameter. Inside that ring is another ring that can be adjusted from the 1 5/8" diameter to about 1 1/8". In fact, under the solid ring are impressed the numbers "1 1/8" to 1 9/16" ". Around the outside edge of the solid ring reads "Made by Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester N.Y. USA Pat June 5, 1917".

You can see there is some writing and numbers written on strips of paper that are under clear tape on the back. I have no idea what those markings represent. The glass in the center is interesting as while it is smooth on both sides there are "wiggly/wavy" lines that must be sandwiched between the glass panes?

I hope I have described this "thing" well enough that someone can tell me just what the heck it is? I eagerly look forward to someone solving this mystery! Mark

[Kino]

Pretty sure it is an early Wratten Gel Filter holder. The adjustable ring would band around the front of the lens and could be used on many sizes of lens barrels.

As long as the area the lens sees is covered by the filter, you are good to go.

BTW, the wratten gel filter taped to it now is toast! Might be interesting in a "Spritone-funky" sort of way, but probably useless...

[6x6TLL]

The numbers are the colour temp in Kelvin. Looks like it's a filter that cools warmer light like from an indoor lightbulb (2700K) to colder/daylight temperature (5400K). Probably colour correction for using an different emulsion. The filter looks cooked though.

[Mark Sampson]

That filter looks like it spent too much time too close to a hot light (tungsten lamp). Possibly used in a home-movie application.

[John Layton]

Accompanied by no small measure of libation...perfect for channeling one's inner photo-impressionist!

[rdenney]

Could it be that this is not a filter holder for a camera, but rather a diffuser for a hot light? Hence the tungsten-to-daylight conversion, which is what the writing means. You'd have to remove and separate the glass sheets to see what's inside them--if it's a standard gel it will probably be marked along one edge. If it's a gel, it's ruined, of course, which is easy to do with gelatin filters. But a wrinkled gel would still be transparent even if it distorted the image. This one seems to be frosted in addition to being wavy, which is why I think it might be an intentional diffuser.

Rick "just guessing" Denney

[Mark MC]

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. This is all Greek to me but I will follow up on the information you have provided. I guess it's difficult to know if "it" is collectible until we know just what "it" is? Mark

[Mark MC]

I haven't had much luck seeing anything similar when I look for "Antique Kodak Wratten gel filter holder". I did remove and separate the glass sheets and this is what I found. No markings that I could see. Any other suggestions? I contacted the Kodak Museum but have not heard back from them. Thank you for all your help!

[phdgent]

It looks like a filter holder for a babyspot or a focusable point light (see Rank, Strand-Century etc.), the blue foil seems to be a colour balance filter, which was exposed to a to hot source.
But this is just an assumption based on these photos...

[Mark MC]

I think Kino wins the prize! Ran across this eBay listing for a "KODAK FILTER HOLDER FOR 2 INCH SQUARE FILTERS, ADJUSTABLE" and although they don't have many photos I think this is it. The box is what sold it. Thanks for all your help folks. God bless!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225899355041