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Vintage Kaleidoscope, "Moma in Grey" era 1985 By Judith Katelitz without outer sleeve

Vintage Kaleidoscope, "Moma in Grey" era 1985 By Judith Katelitz without outer sleeve

$49.00
$49.00
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Vintage Kaleidoscope – MoMA in Grey “The Karascope” (1985)

Designed by Judith Karelitz | Made in USA

This is an authentic vintage kaleidoscope from 1985, known as “The Karascope™”, designed by renowned optical artist Judith Karelitz. This model is often associated with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, and the kaleidoscope itself is clearly marked Museum of Modern Art, New York on the tube.

This listing is for the kaleidoscope only.
⚠️ The outer original pink exterior cardboard sleeve DOES NOT come with this model.

🌈 What Makes the Karascope Unique

Unlike traditional kaleidoscopes, The Karascope™ contains no colored glass. Instead, it creates its visual magic using polarized white light and birefringent materials, producing luminous, shifting spectral colors made purely from light itself.

  • White light enters the base of the tube and is polarized into a single plane

  • The light passes through clear, colorless birefringent materials

  • The eyepiece reorganizes the light into brilliant, swirling color fields

  • The resulting patterns are asymmetrical, unlike standard mirror-based kaleidoscopes

Point the Karascope toward different light sources and:

  • Rotate the base to change the image

  • Twist the eyepiece to alter color intensity and direction

  • Watch colors swirl toward or away from the eye

Each movement creates a completely new optical experience.

🕰️ Condition & Collectibility

  • Vintage / Pre-owned (approximately 40+ years old)

  • Carefully pre-loved and well preserved

  • Minor, age-appropriate wear consistent with vintage collectibles

  • Functions perfectly

  • Displays beautifully in a serious kaleidoscope collection

Overall, this Karascope is in good condition for its age and is a wonderful example of Judith Karelitz’s optical innovation.

📐 Dimensions (Approximate)

  • Kaleidoscope only:

    • Length: 11 ¼ inches

    • Diameter: 2 1/16 inches

📜 Artist & Patent Information

  • Karascope™ – Trademarked design

  • Patent: 3,841,730

  • Copyright: Judith Karelitz, 1978

  • Made in the USA

  • Original copyright states:
    “The Karascope creates an optical fantasy in a tube by polarizing, refracting, and reflecting light.”

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