Lorgnette

1850-1875

probably c. 1870

Measurements

5-1/8 in (including hanging ring) x 1-1/8 in x 3/8 in

Materials

Silver, glass

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of Sara Corbit Reese Pryor

Accession Number

2004.19.6

Inscription

The interlaced letters M, W, and C are engraved on one side of the handle.

Provenance

The donor inherited the lorgnette from her mother, Harriet Hurd Curtis.  Harriet likely inherited it from her mother, Sara Clark Corbit.  Regarding its earlier descent, see "Comments" below.

Comments

Lorgnettes were used over many decades by fashionable ladies in place of spectacles when attending events such as formal parties or the opera.  The pierced and highly engraved handle of this lorgnette also forms a case for the folding and spring-loaded lenses.

The interlaced initials engraved on one side are MCW, for Mary Corbit Wilson (1811-1880), or MWC, for the same woman who married Daniel Corbit (1796-1877) in 1847, thus becoming Mary Wilson Corbit.  The initials might also represent Daniel and Mary Corbit’s daughter Mary (1848-1923), who married Edward Tatnall Warner (1835-1904) in 1876, thus becoming Mary Corbit Warner.  Given that Mary Corbit Warner lost each of her children before her own death and left most of her belongings to the David Wilson Memorial, Inc. (see another lorgnette that likely belonged to her, accession no, 1971.1535), this lorgnette likely descended from Mary Warner’s mother.  Mary Corbit Wilson Corbit was also the step-mother of Daniel Wheeler Corbit (1843-1922), whose daughter Sara Clark Corbit (1871-1952) was the maternal grandmother of the donor.

The likely path of descent and few clues provided by the lorgnette itself suggest that it was probably made between about 1850 and the early 1870s, excepting the years of the Civil War, when such a fashionable accoutrement seems an unlikely purchase.  The fine craftsmanship might indicate the later end of the date range.