Lorgnette

1890-1910

Measurements

4-3/8 in x 1-1/4 in x 1/2 in

Materials

Steel, silver, glass, silk (ribbon)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.1535

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner

Comments

This lorgnette, a fashionable substitution for spectacles, has glass lenses in hinged, spring-loaded metal frames that fold into the handle.  The handle is made of steel coated in an elegant dark gray, satin-finished, enamel paint that appears to have been baked on.  The physical features of the lorgnette do little to establish where and when it was made, but its inclusion among other belongings of Mary Corbit Warner (1848-1923) is helpful.  She likely acquired it no earlier than about 1890, when she was aged 42 and perhaps beginning to experience changes in her eyesight.

For another lorgnette that descended in the Corbit family, see accession no. 2004.19.6.