Binoculars

[CuriousCollector]

Here are some more items we dug out of my recently deceased FIL's storage.  Unfortunately, almost all the items I'm posting today were buried under damp plaster from a wall that collapsed a decade ago.  Almost everything was at least a little damp, and many of the papers (letters!  ARGH!) were infested with bookworms and silverfish.  So, I definitely want to know to what extent these items should be cleaned.

First up, a lovely small pair of binoculars.  It is just under 4" wide at the widest part, and about 2.75" high.  The inside piece appears to be brass (BTW, how does one tell brass from copper?).  The handles, however, are interesting.  Could they be brass or copper as well?  They are not as cool to the touch as the interior pieces, but not as warm as wood.

The eye pieces are marked "Lepine" and "Paris".  Underneath the eye piece it says "Made in France".  The tiny screw between the eye piece and the adjustment screw is missing, so it will not focus.





Any idea on history or value?  Thanks!

[jondar]

At last, something I know a little about.  These are as you pointed out, opera glasses.  Little stylish glasses the ladies used to take to public performances.  The magnification is very low, and most of them were made in France, a very few from Germany, (Emil Busch).  These were extremely popular from right after WW1 on thru the 30's and 40's, so yours was probably made in this time frame.  These usually had faux mother of pearl wrappings around the bodies of the tubes or leather in various colors.  It looks like the wrappings (for want of a better word) are no longer on yours and the bare metal of the tubes are revealed, and as you said are probably brass.

As to value, I have one of these with the MOP still on the tubes which I will use my daughter's camera to take a photo of.  I ran mine on Ebay once, a lady in Michigan bought them for $39 but later had buyers remorse and I refunded her money.  Mine were made by "ZINGRAFF" shown one one ocular lens and his address of 164 Rue de Rivoli, Paris on the other ocular lens.  I will try to post a photo later today and explain some very interesting provenence on mine.

[jondar]

OK, as promised here is a picture of my binocular, or opera glass and they were called.  Notice the little gismo attached to the outside of the left tube.  A handle about 9" long attached to this and fashionable ladies (maybe gents too) used it to bring the glass to their eyes.  Once the "handle" was attached the unit became a lorgnette (lorn yet').  I have the handle for mine but is less than perfect and was the reason the lady turned mine down.

My opera glass was owned by the Topeka artist, Mary Huntoon.  When Mary died, her husband (second or third I believe) turned to drink and his health soon failed.  A very kind lady I know took him in and cared for him until he died in 2004 at 101 years old.  This lady knew I collected binoculars and gave me this one plus another large French binocular.  At the time I had no idea the lorgnette was Mary Huntoon's.  I believe she bought this when she studied art in Paris in the 30's. So the lady who voided the sale really did me a favor.  I may try to get it in a museum somewhere.

Sorry, I can't seem to get the photo to attach.  I'll keep working on it.

[mariok54]

Hi Jondar.... Very nice pair, with mother of pearl? Good history and provenance!!! hold on to them.
With regards to curious's pair it is difficult to say with any certainty whether they are opera glasses or racing glasses (horse racing), also made in France in abundance between the late 19c and through to the mid 20c.

[jondar]

Yes, after looking more closely at the other pair it certainly could be possible they are just a small binocular.  Bausch & Lomb and others made these small ones and I think they referred to them as Sports glasses.  The one by the original poster appears to be taller than mine.

[talesofthesevenseas]

I bought a pair of these opera glasses for my mom a few years back and spent a small fortune to have the optics repaired. The condition of the optics affects the value in addition to the condition of the exterior, as repairing them usually costs more than they are worth, unfortunately. Not all of them were lorgnettes. Many of them never had handles and are just held up to the eyes. They have come down in price since I bought mine (pre-recession) and are running about $20 to $120 on Ebay. I hope that they will become popular again someday, having a working pair is wonderful and I think they are one of the more unappreciated and very beautiful antiques available.

[CuriousCollector]

Racing glasses sounds more likely, for a country gentleman in a rural Georgia county.  It also doesn't look as if anything's missing, but when I go back to that box, I will keep an eye out for anything like chips of MOP.

Thanks, everyone!  I sure appreciate all the input!