Title
Eyeglasses
Dateca. 1770
Mediumferrous metal
Dimensions4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm)
Object number1941.17.18
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionEyeglasses with metal rims. Rims are especially thick around the lenses. Ends of holders are loops. Glasses have gift number "G 3672," but another pair of glasses (1941.17.15) is located under this gift number. Round rimmed eyeglasses with metal frames. Glass lenses are mounted in baleen which is then attached to the metal rims. One temple ends with a circular ear piece. These are a pair of “Martin’s margins”. They are approximately mid-1700’s. They have the cracked lens and the missing end to one temple. They appear to be made of steel and horn. Benjamin Martin (1704-1782) was an optician in London who invented this style of spectacles. The design was later much copied. Pairs found today are usually of iron or steel with a C-bridge and margins of cattle horn. Luxury models of silver with tortoiseshell inserts seem to have been made. The historian, J.W. Rosenthal, has observed that the lenses, whether of pebble or glass, all seem to have been bi-convex and their axes were pointed inwards to meet at the normal reading distance. On View
Not on view
1760-1820
1800-1820
1850-1875
Circa 1770
