Spain? first half of 1700. Bow leather spectacles held in wooden case with leather hinges. The lens on the right, while having the same power and thickness of the left, is fixed to the frame with a thickness due to a probable loss of elasticity of leather. The thickness is actually the rim of a Nuremberg copper frame.
Venice, mid 1700. Whalebone bow spectacles with dark green plano lenses.Contained in cardboard case and ink stained at tortoiseshell effect. Presents felt pads on the nasal side to reduce slipping caused by the lens diameter of about 4 cm.
Leather bow spectacles with iron bridge. Nord european area, England early XVIII century. Rare and extremely delicate nose spectacles. The thickness of the frame, measuring less than two millimeters , and the flexible iron bridge fastened by rivet pins, made this frame extremely lightweight and elastic but at the same time, not very resistant. The lenses are particularly oxidized. Intransparency numerous micro air bubbles trapped in the glassy mass are visible, which is typical of the earliest productions. The spectacles are contained in a contemporary case made of boiled leather, and embellished with dotted diamond shapes with longitudinal and parallel lines obtained by hot pressure.
Nurnberg copper bow spectacles with yellow thread, in the nose area, to reduce the slipping. Lenses signed ”London” to guarantee the high glass quality. Contained in a trilobate and carved boxwood case, from northern Italian appennines. Consists of two lamine retained by iron nails and a lower leather strip that acts as a locking and stopping of the spectacles.
Germany, about 1770. The peculiarity of these two copper glasses is the construction of the lens called ”facetten glaser”, due to the type of manufacture. The glasses with yellow silk on the nose are very rare, as it is made with plano lenses. The lenses are slightly darker but not too much to protect from the sun and that’s why the glasses was described as ”conservative”. Used to preserve the eyes during the reading from the white paper. Held in their double ray-skin case.