Featured Brass Binoculars

Hi,
Trying to figure out these binoculars - made of brass, no maker marks anywhere and no loops on the sides to attach a strap. They are 8-8 1/2" (going from memory) and extend another 2 1/2". They work well, not sure if they were meant to be decorative or maybe military?
Any information appreciated
thanks for looking

 

Look into binoculars made for military/naval use. Seems to me that's where I've seen them, & get Arsenal on board.

 

Thanks Bronwen
Yes, I've been looking under military and finding similar but not the same. This pair is the same, listed as 'Civil War Style', so far the only pair that is the same. I guess the length is what they are referring to as the same style - I don't know binoculars so this is all new to me.
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/43092183_brass-civil-war-style-binoculars-and-m-2-compass

 

Yours are certainly very similar to the ones shown on the liveauctioneers site. How would you assess the optics? Clear or hazy? Able to get them into focus or no? I'm just keeping you entertained until someone who can actually be useful comes along.

 

get Shang on board......& likely had a leather wrapping..which may have been marked..

 

lol, thank-you

that makes sense these would have had leather at some point, thank-you komokwa!

 

here is another pair very close to mine - so maybe they didn't have leather? the ones below are described as solid brass
http://eyeantiques.com/shop/museum/civil-war-brass-binoculars-10-inches-long/

 

I always love your sense of the ridiculous, Bronwen.
Along with your knowledge of course.

 

I don't think they can work well with the crossthreaded lens in the fourth picture

 

Thanks for the replies folks!

I'll have a look and see if I can find some like mine.

terry what does a 'cross threaded lens' mean? They move up and down fine and the lens are clear

 

thanks Dave. Not sure why it looks uneven, they turn okay.

 

i think they were dropped on the floor at some point....

 

They look decorative to me, have never seen real ones with that shape tube. No patina to speak of. Do they really magnify a distant object and are they collimated? The machining on eyepieces is different from any old ones I’ve seen. I’d bet money these are being cranked out in Taiwan for the souvenir/deco/pier One type market. Are the objective lenses flat (fake) or convex (maybe real.)

 

they look like half of a pair of Admiral's Binoculars .....

 

That's interesting, komokwa. I would have said military binoculars usually have leather or something because you don't want the sun glinting off those brass tubes to give your position away when you're spying on the enemy! That's why combat uniforms have flat black insignia or sewn on instead of shiny brass that they use for dress uniforms.

 

Komo’s “Admiral’s Binoculars” look like decorators too. That flimsy tripod with no way to lock the leg joint would fall apart before the flagship cleared the channel.

 

Seems like there are more places selling those than Carter’s has Little Liver Pills.

 

Hey Bev...Hey Spring...I throw stuff out there...to make folks think....specially when I don'
t klnow the whole answer......