Accession No

0529

Brief Description

spectacles and case, by Carpenter and Westley, English, 1830 (c)

Origin

England; London; 24 Regent Street

Maker

Carpenter and Westley

Class

optical

Earliest Date

1835

Latest Date

1835

Inscription Date

Material

organic (tortoise shell); glass; wood; cloth (velvet)

Dimensions

length 130mm; breadth 33mm; thickness 14mm

Special Collection

Robert Whipple collection

Provenance

Purchased from T.H. Court on 28/05/1927.

Inscription

‘CARPENTER
&
WESTLEY,
OPTICIANS,
24 REGENT STT.
LONDON’ (label inside case)

Description Notes

Spectacles and case, Carpenter and Westley, 1830 (c).

Oval frame tortoiseshell with turn-pin sides. Concave lenses, wide C-bridge. Pivotting double side-pieces with loop ends.
Wooden slip case with hinged lid. Red/brown marbled decoration; red velvet lining.
Paper label in lid.

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:42745