Opera Glasses: Museum Object and Cultural History
Opera Glasses: date made: mid 19th century. Object Name: opera glasses. Measurements: overall: 43 cm; 16 15/16 in.
The object in the museum catalogue
This is a brass instrument with ivory focusing screw, handle, and covering over the cylindrical barrels. The objective lenses are 24 mm diameter. “LUNETTE PAR INVENTION ET PERFECTIONEMENT*” appears around each eyepiece. The case is made of black cellulose nitrate.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: mid 19th century
- Object Name: opera glasses
- Measurements: overall: 43 cm; 16 15/16 in
- Measurements: overall; glasses: 1 3/8 in x 4 1/2 in x 1 13/16 in; 3.4925 cm x 11.43 cm x 4.60375 cm
- Measurements: overall; case: 4 3/8 in x 2 1/2 in x 1 11/16 in; 11.1125 cm x 6.35 cm x 4.28625 cm
- place made: France
- ID Number: PH.336789
- catalog number: 336789
- accession number: 1978.2216
- Credit Line: Jane and Mary Henle
- 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.
Sources
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