Antique Theater Glasses

Here to show off my three sets of antique theater glasses:





First pair. Victorian. 1880s. Mother of Pearl on the body and the eye-sockets. No maker's marks anywhere, but I had it examined by a dealer who confirmed my suspicions.



Mother-of-Pearl & blue cloisonne enamel. Manufactured - Thomas Gaunt. Optician, clockmaker (and general mechanical wizard, if the documentation I've seen is anything to go by). Based in Melbourne from ca. 1850-1890. Business folded in 1890 when Thomas Gaunt died. I suspect these are later. Maybe 1870-1890.



Mystery glasses. They're solid brass, I know that much. Originally they were all covered over in black, enamel paint, but over the past 80-100+ years, almost all the exterior paint has been rubbed off. The seller told me these were from the 1920s. Another guy I showed them to said they might be earlier. 1900s-1910s. Maybe further back. I was told that during WWI, it was a done thing that opera glasses were painted black and issued to officers in the field as compact field-binoculars. I don't know whether that was what this was used for, or not. I bought them mostly because they were unique. And cheap. Very very cheap. All these were extremely cheap. I was told by the dealer I showed them to that they sell these for like $300-$400 apiece.

 

Cool to have Australian pair, and they look the best of the three. I think maybe you meant guilloche rather than cloisonne?

 

Very nice, but guilloche enamel rather than cloisonne, the brass ones most likely had leather covering the body...

~Cheryl

 

No, not leather. Black paint. I know because when I bought them, there was still some of it left. But it was literally crumbling off it was so flaky. It was there, then it was gone. There was nothing I could do to save it. I have SEEN some with leather on them, and they look very pretty, though.

And sorry about the mixup! A friend said they were cloisonne. What's the difference?

MoreOtherStuff, etc, I too am amazed that they're Australian!!

The first pair (the MoP) I bought those at a flea-market for $20.

I bought the blue pair from my local thrift-shop. I work there as a volunteer (and therefore, get first dibs on any cute antiques that fly through the doors).

That pair was sitting on the boss's desk...in pieces. That's how it came to the shop. I had a quiet word with the man and he agreed to let me have it for half-price. I took it home, pulled the thing entirely apart, and then saw what the problem was. Cleaned them, reassembled them and there you have it!

Not bad, for $25.

 

I suspect the first two are French made, the one with a local retailer's mark. This was normal practice. It would have been cheaper to import French glasses than to imitate fairly exactly a French pair locally. A modest order and the makers would add whatever name the retailer wanted.
The local retailer's name cut more ice with the buyers than some remote maker in France. By 1900 they could have been ordered telegraphically and been there in a month on a steamer.
The last are a fairly common type, often billed as for the racing man.

Again, none of them are unique.

 

Thank goodness I never said they were then, eh? But I think it took longer than a month to get them there by steamship. Especially back in the 1880s. I think something like a month and a half.

 

I love the blue pair. Wherever they were made, they seem special.

 

I agree with what afantiques said


Here in the states, called opera glasses not theater glasses.
$300 here is a little high for the MOP and the brass. Although the blue may possibly be in that price range

 

I don't like calling them 'opera glasses'. It's too limiting of a term. And yes it might be a bit steep, but I live in Australia. An antiques desert. Anything old over here commands a premium price, unfortunately.

 

They're always known as opera glasses here, regardless of where they were used. Theatres still hire them out, too - some of the older London ones, anyhow.

My grandfather went to Sydney on a tea clipper.....

 

This is Australia. As AFAntiques already said - everything was imported. We produced almost NOTHING in Australia. Furniture. Wool. Gold. Minerals. Raw produce. That was about it.

Everything else was imported by ocean-liner. Furniture. Sewing machines. Record players. Radios. Typewriters. Stoves. Desks. Pianos. Jewelry. Silverware. Everything came by sea. That's why everything is so rare here. Because we never had a manufacturing-base.

You'll even see stuff (like sewing machines and typewriters), and they'll say:

"Australian Built".

Australian Built just means that the item was shipped here from England in parts. And they put it together at the shop and sold it. It doesn't actually mean it was MADE here.

It's for this reason that everything in Australia is so flipping expensive. Writing slopes change hands here STARTING at $300 for a cheap one in good condition. Sewing machines are $200. Radios are $500-$1,000+ depending on condition. Record-players are $300-$500+. Stuff you pay $50 for or $100 for in America or England or Europe - double or triple that for Australia.

 

I sold a handful of wrenches on ebay

I had them listed at $25 with free domestic shipping

No US bidder at that price

Guy in Oz bought them with $150 shipping cost

 

Nice, love the blue ones too!

 

See what I mean?? We simply don't have that stuff over here.

 

FYI: guilloche, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilloché , and cloisonne, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloisonné

 

Thanks KentWorld.

Now that you've given me those links, I can see the differences quite clearly. Yes you're right, it would be Guilloche. I can see the similarities. Thanks for that!!

 

I did buy an Austrailian saddle once and love it.

 

I found a small brass box recently that was made in what's apparently the only foundry in Australia. That sounds odd to me since I live 30 miles from the Brass City, aka Waterbury CT. I've shipped the oddest stuff to Australia and Eastern Europe, things I'm guessing aren't available locally at any price. The shipping is often higher than the value of the item.