Opera glasses and case owned by Mary Church Terrell: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Small opera glasses and case owned by Mary Church Terrell. The metal opera glasses (a) have inlaid mother of pearl decoration. Around the rim of each eyecup [LEMAIRE PARIS] is printed. The text on the left side is significantly deteriorated. The lens glass has some deterioration and the metal is tarnished. The green leather case (b) has a blue silk lining. There is a button closure to open the hinged lid. The sides seams are torn and the leather is abraded. The case handle is partially detached. There is a handwritten numerical notation inside the lid.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: late 19th-mid 20th century
• Created by: Lemaire, French, 1846 - 1955
• Owned by: Mary Church Terrell, American, 1863 - 1954
• Type: opera glasses
• Type: cases (containers)
• Medium: glasses:metal, plastic, glass, mother of pearl;
• Medium: case: leather, silk, metal, paper, ink
• Dimensions: H x W x D (case): 2 3/4 × 4 5/8 × 2 in. (7 × 11.7 × 5.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (glasses): 2 1/4 × 4 × 1 1/2 in. (5.7 × 10.2 × 3.8 cm)
• Place collected: Highland Beach, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
• Place made: Paris, Île-de-France, France, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Amusements
• Topic: Domestic life
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Opera (Music)
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: A2017.13.1.16ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ray and Jean Langston in memory of Mary Church and Robert Terrell
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.