My eyesight sucks.
I have Retinopathy of Prematurity. I have astigmatism. I have myopia. I have legal blindness.
Glorious.
When I started going out to the theater more often, I decided that I had to get a better view of what was happening up on the stage. Short of sitting up in a box, I decided to do the next best thing. And I bought theater glasses. Also called opera glasses or theater binoculars. And I thought I’d share them with you.
My two sets of theater glasses. Blue cloisonne, and both with Mother of Pearl. Date: 1880s.
First, the one at the back…
Blue cloisonne theater glasses with Mother of Pearl around the edges of the viewing lenses. Engraved on the MoP:
“T. Gaunt. Optician. Melbourne & Sydney”
I date these to about 1880. ‘T Gaunt’ was Thomas Gaunt, a watchmaker and optician operating out of Bourke St., Melbourne, from the 1850s until 1890.
And here’s my other set:
This set has absolutely NO markings on it at all. I assume they’re from roughly the same period given how similar they lok. 1870s-1890s. Fully clad in Mother of Pearl.
Both sets work flawlessly. They extend and focus smoothly, and pack up smoothly. Their finishes are almost flawless and they’re not broken or damaged in any way.
These theater glasses are really awesome. T. Gaunt glass has splendid design and history that attracted me. Now I want to add this item in my collection. What is its price?
No price, not for sale. But I paid about $45 for the pair.