Accession No
0541
Brief Description
spectacle case, by Carpenter and Westley, English, 1850 (c)
Origin
England; London; 21 Regent Street
Maker
Carpenter and Westley
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1850
Latest Date
1850
Inscription Date
Material
wood; paper; cloth (velvet)
Dimensions
length 135mm; breadth 36mm; thickness 15mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased from T.H. Court on 28/05/1927.
Inscription
‘CARPENTER
AND WESTLEY,
OPTICIANS,
21, Regent St.,
LONDON.’ (on back of case)
‘ROBERTSON.’ (on front of case)
‘Loch Lomond’ (below picture)
Description Notes
Wooden slip case with push lid. Paper laminate decorated with tartan background and view of Loch Lomond in ornate frame.
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:42728
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