Accession No
0452
Brief Description
spectacle case, 1850 (c)
Origin
Maker
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1850
Latest Date
1850
Inscription Date
Material
ivory; organic (tortoise shell, mother of pearl); metal (silver); cloth (velvet)
Dimensions
length 154mm; breadth 42mm; thickness 15mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased from T.H. Court on 05/03/1929.
Inscription
Description Notes
Slip case with hinged lid. Ivory body with tortoise shell and mother of pearl veneer, silver shield on front. (One section of mother of pearl missing)
Condition: fair (lid detached; 7-2-2000); incomplete (section of mother of pearl missing).
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:42739
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