Posted 10 years ago
Swallowtai…
(1 item)
This pair of very old spectacles was found as is by an estate buyer in New York in 2013. I saw them on eBay with not much description to go by and placed a "watch item" in My eBay. The first time around, no bidders - really not surprising. The seller relisted them, and I couldn't help but continue to find them so intriguing, I had to bid on them and won - me being the only bidder - for around $10.00. I emailed the seller asking if he knew much about them - unfortunately, he did not. He said they were in a box he bought at an estate auction in Batavia, New York.
They seem to be lovingly cherished by their owner back in the day - obviously cobbled together and put to use and treasured. The oval glass lenses are mismatched and cloudy, the broken off curl of the "riding temple" arms (both) and broken "w" saddle nosepiece (no nosepads) are wound in cotton tape, but the owner obviously wore them as best he (she?) could. They came in a very worn, non-distinct eyeglass case - the very old kind; just a small, open-ended, hard, cardboard shell. They are to me, a precious example of human attachment and of found art as is.
I keep them in what I call my "Cabinet of Curiosities", and can only make up stories in my mind as to their history and their wearer.
I wish I knew more about them.
My father was an EENT Dr. & my mother collected old eyeglasses to frame & decorate his office. She would have loved these (And probably invented a history for them).
How cool! For some reason, I am attracted to the old wire rim style, and search on eBay every once and a while. These were so strange - I kept coming back to them, telling myself: "I don't need something like this! Whatever would I do with them? Am I nuts?". But, they just drew me in, and whenever I take a look at them, I too invent a new history each time. Wonder what your Mother's story for them would have been?!
Yes, you are nuts, but a few of these in a shadowbox look good on a wall. Then you make up your own history. T. Roosevelt would sound good for these. Wore them when he went up San Juan Hill. Want a C.A. from me on that? LOL
You've given me quite a chuckle on that one!
Thanks! I needed that ;^)