This piece looks like something straight out of a dystopian fever dream, but it’s actually a 19th-century smoke mask—an early attempt at protecting lungs from toxic air. Cast in metal with stark, goggle-like eyes and twin threaded ports for oxygen tubes, it’s equal parts ingenious and unsettling. Mounted on its stand, it tells the story of an era when factories belched smoke, and fire brigades experimented with ways to breathe through the haze.
This piece looks like something straight out of a dystopian fever dream, but it’s actually a 19th-century smoke mask—an early attempt at protecting lungs from toxic air. Cast in metal with stark, goggle-like eyes and twin threaded ports for oxygen tubes, it’s equal parts ingenious and unsettling. Mounted on its stand, it tells the story of an era when factories belched smoke, and fire brigades experimented with ways to breathe through the haze.
