Strope opera glasses

Description:

This is a metal instrument (probably brass) covered with orange celluloid speckled with small metal stars. The cross-hatching on the surface, visible through the celluloid, was probably produced by a method known as engine turning. The objective lenses are 35 mm in diameter. The length is 6.3 cm closed. The barrels are flared. One eye tube is marked “L’Ingenieur / Strope / Optician” and the other “Bréveté / 24 Palais Royal / Paris.”

G. Strope was active in the 1870s, enjoyed a high-end location in Paris, and advertised his wares in books written for foreign tourists.

This example came to the Smithsonian in 1922, in the large bequest of Cassie Mason Myers Julian James.

Date Made: 1870-1890

Used By: Mason, Catalina Juliana Myers

Location: Currently not on view

See more items in: Home and Community Life: Costume, Clothing & Accessories, Optics

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Estate of Cassie Mason Myers Julian-James

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: CS.033467Catalog Number: 033467Accession Number: 70138

Object Name: opera glassesObject Type: opera glassesOther Terms: opera glasses; Opticals; Accessories Carried; Female

Physical Description: glass (overall material)metal (overall material)plastic (overall material)inlaid metal star (barrel style)

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a1-665d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_359239

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