Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers of St. Louis, MO is holding its Spectacles & Other Vision Aids event on March 15, 2024. Almost 150 lots of 18th to 20th century glasses, optical accessories, and related materials are on offer. This collection is from Dr. J. William Rosenthal, who was an ophthalmologist, vision historian, enthusiastic collector, and author of Spectacles and Other Vision Aids: A History and Guide to Collecting. This important reference book was published by Norman Publishing of San Francisco in the 1990s. Here are some key lots that caught the eye of the Auction Daily team. Lot #0007, four Chinese carved tortoiseshell spectacles, is estimated at $500 to $1,000. Image courtesy of Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers. The top lot in this sale is #0007, a collection of four Chinese carved tortoiseshell spectacles. The quartet is estimated at USD 500 to $1,000. These all date from the early 19th century. Three have circular lenses and one has oval lenses. All are detailed with elaborately carved bridges, folding temples, and circular temple tips. Tortoiseshell, a material sourced originally from Hawksbill turtles, has traditionally been associated with high society. It has been used to decorate, or create, accessories and elegant items since the 18th century. It gained superstar status when André-Charles Boulle, the cabinetmaker to King Louis XIV, used tortoiseshell as part of his marquetry process to decorate royal furnishings. Tortoiseshell eyewear became a status symbol in America in the 1920s. Real tortoiseshell was used for eyeglass production through 1973. That year, CITES– the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species– made it illegal to do so. Lot #0076, a pair of Martin Margin spectacles, is estimated at $200 to $500. Image courtesy of Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers. Antique eyeglasses are well represented in this sale of spectacles and other vision aids. Lot #0076, a pair of Martin Margin spectacles, is estimated at $200 to $500. These glasses were made in England around 1750. They have round steel frames lined in tortoiseshell, a steel bridge, and folding temples with circular temple tips. They are accompanied by a flat, oval-shaped, pull-apart brown leather…
Auction Industry
Auction Preview
Auction Preview
Auction Preview
Auction Preview
Auction Preview
