Accession No
0539
Brief Description
spectacles in case, 1840 (c)
Origin
France (?)
Maker
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1840
Latest Date
1840
Inscription Date
Material
metal (steel, wire); glass; paper; wood; cloth (velvet)
Dimensions
length 111mm; breadth 58mm; case length 120mm; breadth 30mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased from T.H. Court on 28/05/1927.
Inscription
‘I’ (on case)
Description Notes
Fine steel frames. Oval concave lenses. Wire side-pieces with ear loops. K-bridge. Slip case with push on lid; velvet lining. Decorated paper laminated with line and sprig design.
Condition: good; complete.
References
Events
Description
Spectacles
Usually consisting of a pair of lenses held in a frame, spectacles may have originated in the ancient civilizations of China and the Mediterranean, but early forms were crude. It was only in the 18th century that the grinding of lenses became sufficiently advanced to make then really effective for correcting sight defects. In order to correct for near sightedness, the lenses must be concave, which diverges the rays of light (angles them apart), and for long sightedness they must be convex, to angle the rays of light together.
Spectacles are not solely used for defective eyesight; the Inuit and the Yupik use wooden spectacles with very small slits in them to reduce the glare from snow and ice.
FM:42695
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