Lemaire opera glasses with image of a bee: Museum Object and Cultural History
Lemaire opera glasses with image of a bee: date made: 1895-1905. Object Name: opera glasses. Object Type: opera glasses.
The object in the museum catalogue
This is a heavy brass instrument with pearl on the barrels, center focus and eyecups. The barrels are flared. The objective lenses are 38 mm diameter. The length is 6.7 cm closed. The eyecups are marked “LEMAIRE FT * PARIS*.” An image of a bee, the company logo, appears on the center crosspiece as does the number “63.”
Jacques Lemaire began making opera glasses in 1847 and was soon a major manufacturer known for his use of mechanization, division of labor and interchangeable parts.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1895-1905
- Object Name: opera glasses
- Object Type: opera glasses
- Other Terms: opera glasses; Opticals; Accessories Carried; Female
- Physical Description: glass (overall material)
- Physical Description: metal (overall material)
- Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
- Physical Description: shell, mother-of-pearl (overall material)
- ID Number: CS.257266.011
- catalog number: 257266.011
- accession number: 257266
- Credit Line: Gift of Marion Ross
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
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