Pair of glasses on a handle belonging to Etta Moten Barnett: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a pair of glasses on a handle. The glasses are rimmed in thick black molded plastic covered in clear rhinestones on the front. The back side of the glasses are plain. The glasses do not have the temple arms found on most glasses but rather a single handle on the proper right side that folds down ninety degrees to allow the user to hold the glasses to their face. On the back of the handle is raised text that reads “HONG KONG.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1960-2004
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Type: eyeglasses
• Medium: plastic
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 4 15/16 × 1 3/16 × 9/16 in. (12.5 × 3 × 1.5 cm)
• Place made: Hong Kong, China, Asia
• Place used: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Women
• Object number: A2022.13.1.43
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.