Eyeglasses Collection

Eyeglasses for chickens patent, 1903 C024 / 3600
Eyeglasses for chickens patent, 1903. Artwork of a device designed by Andrew Jackson Jr. to protect the eyes of chickens from aggressive pecking by other chickens

BIFOCALS, 1760s. Benjamin Franklins sketch for bifocal eyeglasses, which he is credited with inventing

George Bernard Shaw
30th July 1949: 93-year-old Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) sitting in his neighbours garden in Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire

The Parable of the Rich Fool, 1627. Creator: Rembrandt van Rhijn (1606-1669)
The Parable of the Rich Fool, 1627. Found in the Collection of Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Advertisement, Thomas Harris, Opticians to the Royal Family
Advertisement, Thomas Harris & Son, Opticians to the Royal Family. 1841

Les Choristes (The Chorus Singers), 1877. Creator: Degas, Edgar (1834-1917)
Les Choristes (The Chorus Singers), 1877. Found in the Collection of Musee d Orsay, Paris

Man welcoming chefs, smiling

The Lobster Quadrille Postcard by Charles Folkard. ca. 1921, The Lobster Quadrille Postcard by Charles Folkard

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, 1882 - 1941. Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet. After a contemporary print

Close-up portrait of old lady with glasses and traditional facial tattoo smoking a pipe, Mindat, Mindat Township, Mindat District, Chin State, Myanmar

Italian leather eyeglasses cases, Mercato Nuovo, Florence, Tuscany, Italy, Europe

The words Image, Toy, Kepi and Lunette, 1908 (photo)
8713205 The words Image, Toy, Kepi and Lunette, 1908 (photo); 31,5 x 25 cm; Private Collection; (add.info.: in "To learn to read by Henri Manuel, published by the Librairie Felix Juven, Paris)

JoJohn Theodor LUND (1842-1913) Norwegian politician and patriot, shipowner, journalist, and publisher, 1908 (photo)
FGL5503006 JoJohn Theodor LUND (1842-1913) Norwegian politician and patriot, shipowner, journalist, and publisher, 1908 (photo); (add.info)

Portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace, c.1895 (photo)
7224482 Portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace, c.1895 (photo); Private Collection; (add.info.: Alfred Russel Wallace OM FRS (1823 - 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist

Portrait of the Artist Edwin Edwards, 1892 (litho in black on ivory wove paper)
5859424 Portrait of the Artist Edwin Edwards, 1892 (litho in black on ivory wove paper) by Fantin-Latour, Henri (1836-1904) ; The Art Institute of Chicago, IL

Seeing (colour litho)
8635367 Seeing (colour litho) by Holden, Albert William (1848-1932); Private Collection; (add.info.: Seeing. Illustration from Pears' Annual, 1897.); © Look and Learn.

View of the Hall of Spectacle built by V. Louis at the Palais Royal (Comedie Francaise), inaugurated on 15/05/1790
ETI4396183 View of the Hall of Spectacle built by V. Louis at the Palais Royal (Comedie Francaise), inaugurated on 15/05/1790

Portrait of Anthony Trollope
672522 Portrait of Anthony Trollope; (add.info.: Anthony Trollope (24 April 1815 - 6 December 1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era

Portrait of Jaime Vera Lopez (1858-1918) one of the founders of the Spanish Socialist Party (1879)
AIS5341238 Portrait of Jaime Vera Lopez (1858-1918) one of the founders of the Spanish Socialist Party (1879) and "El Socialista", 1886 (b/w photo).; © Iberfoto.

"Portrait of Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909) "19th century (engraving)
AIS5339914 "Portrait of Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909) "19th century (engraving); © Iberfoto.

Portrait of Augustine Birrell, 1907 (print)
6317523 Portrait of Augustine Birrell, 1907 (print); (add.info.: Augustine Birrell, 1850-1933. English politician, barrister, academic and author)

Snow goggles, c.1847 (leather, copper)
7295732 Snow goggles, c.1847 (leather, copper); 19x6.5x2.5 cm; National Maritime Museum, London, UK; (add.info.: A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-8)

Spectacle lenses: Relic of Sir John Franklins last expedition 1845-48., c.1845 (Glass)
7295506 Spectacle lenses: Relic of Sir John Franklins last expedition 1845-48., c.1845 (Glass); 2.6x3.5x2.5 cm; National Maritime Museum, London

Louis Pasteur, 19th century (engraving)
5310031 Louis Pasteur, 19th century (engraving); (add.info.: Portrait of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) a French biologist, microbiologist and chemist. Dated 19th century.); Universal History Archive/UIG.

Sidney Webb, Baron Passfield (1859-1947)
863306 Sidney Webb, Baron Passfield (1859-1947); (add.info.: Sidney Webb, Baron Passfield (1859-1947) English political economist and social reformer

Portrait of Henry Fawcett
672621 Portrait of Henry Fawcett; (add.info.: Henry Fawcett - Woodbury Henry Fawcett (26 August 1833 - 6 November 1884) was a blind British academic

How man learns from the human eye (litho)
8676259 How man learns from the human eye (litho) by English School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: How man learns from the human eye. Inventions using lenses)

Portrait of John DALTON (1766-1844), (engraving)
AIS5368593 Portrait of John DALTON (1766-1844), (engraving); Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, Spain; (add.info.: British chemist and physicist. Madrid, National Library.); © Iberfoto.

Exhibition of Heads for 1851, c.1851 (hand coloured litho on paper)
7485258 Exhibition of Heads for 1851, c.1851 (hand coloured litho on paper) by Burgess, Robert Smart (1815-1877); 26x32 cm; Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Telford, Shropshire

L for Lunette, 1908 (photo)
8713209 L for Lunette, 1908 (photo); 31,5 x 25 cm; Private Collection; (add.info.: in "To learn to read by Henri Manuel, published by the Librairie Felix Juven, Paris, 1908)

Nikolai g, chernyshevsky (1828 - 1889)
FAT4934326 Nikolai g, chernyshevsky (1828 - 1889); (add.info.: Nikolai g, chernyshevsky (1828 - 1889) russian revolutionary democrat and [hilosopher); Sovfoto/UIG.

Letter G: This monkey, see-you, he is there to sing the great G, 1861 (engraving)
DUV4214951 Letter G: This monkey, see-you, he is there to sing the great G, 1861 (engraving); (add.info.: "ABC Trim, Alphabet enchante" Texts of "Trim")

Portrait of Edouard Branly, c. 1910 (painting)
1755769 Portrait of Edouard Branly, c. 1910 (painting); (add.info.: Edouard Branly (1844-1940) inventor of wireless telegraph, painting, c. 1910); Photo: Tallandier.

Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, c.1910-1920 (painting)
1745848 Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, c.1910-1920 (painting); (add.info.: Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) american president in 1913-1921, painting); Photo: Tallandier.

L. L. Zamenhof, 1908 (engraving)
1576633 L. L. Zamenhof, 1908 (engraving); (add.info.: Portrait of L. L. Zamenhof (1859-1917) creator of Esperanto, the world's most successful constructed language, and a physician by profession

Snow goggles, c.1845 (steel, glass, iron)
7295496 Snow goggles, c.1845 (steel, glass, iron); 10x3 cm; National Maritime Museum, London, UK; (add.info.: A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-8)

Monk Alessandro della Spina, inventor of glasses, ca 1850 (illustration)
7422841 Monk Alessandro della Spina, inventor of glasses, ca 1850 (illustration); (add.info.: Science. Optics. Monk Alessandro della Spina, inventor of glasses, Pisa, Italy, 1296)

Samuel Carter Hall, Irish journalist (engraving)
8677151 Samuel Carter Hall, Irish journalist (engraving) by Pound, Daniel John. (fl.1860); Private Collection; (add.info.: Samuel Carter Hall, (1800-1889), Irish journalist

Simon Gregorcic, Slovenian poet (b/w photo)
8664144 Simon Gregorcic, Slovenian poet (b/w photo) by European Photographer, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Simon Gregorcic (1844-1906), Slovenian poet

Elite cigar box label (chromolitho)
8677575 Elite cigar box label (chromolitho) by American School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Elite cigar box label.); Look and Learn / Barbara Loe Collection.

The Artist's Father Reading, c.1883 (graphite, on ivory wove paper)
5860752 The Artist's Father Reading, c.1883 (graphite, on ivory wove paper) by Cassatt, Mary Stevenson (1844-1926); The Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA; (add.info.: by Mary Cassatt).

Shoulder-strap, Shower-bath, Side-saddle, Silhouette, Skeleton, Somerset, Spectacles, Steam-boiler, Stickle-back
8650101 Shoulder-strap, Shower-bath, Side-saddle, Silhouette, Skeleton, Somerset, Spectacles, Steam-boiler, Stickle-back, Stone-cutter, Strawberry, Studio (engraving) by German School

Camille Lemonnier, 1844-1913, Belgian writer
UIG5414655 Camille Lemonnier, 1844-1913, Belgian writer; UIG.

Wladyslaw Reymont, c.1915 (b/w photo)
7338640 Wladyslaw Reymont, c.1915 (b/w photo); Muzeum Literatury, Warsaw, Poland; Muzeum Literatury/East News.

Father Faivre on the island of Nioua Topou Tapou, Polynesia, 1908 (photograph)
7223634 Father Faivre on the island of Nioua Topou Tapou, Polynesia, 1908 (photograph); (add.info.: A French Catholic missionary in Oceania at the beginning of the twentieth century)

Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
863342 Michael Faraday (1791-1867); (add.info.: Michael Faraday (1791-1867) English chemist and physicist. In 1813 became laboratory assistant to Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution, London

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"Eyeglasses: A Journey Through History and Art" From the comedic genius of Conchords to the peculiar invention for chickens in 1903, this captivating caption takes you on a whirlwind tour through the fascinating world of eyewear. In the 1760s, Benjamin Franklin sketched his revolutionary idea for bifocal eyeglasses, forever changing how we see. Joining him in this optical revolution was George Bernard Shaw, who undoubtedly found inspiration behind his iconic frames. Lytton Strachey's oil portrait from 1916 captures not only his essence but also showcases the timeless elegance that glasses can bring to one's appearance. Meanwhile, Rembrandt van Rhijn's masterpiece "The Parable of the Rich Fool" reminds us that even with all our possessions, clear vision is truly priceless. Thomas Harris' advertisement proudly boasts their status as Opticians to the Royal Family – a testament to both their craftsmanship and regal clientele. Edgar Degas immortalizes Les Choristes (The Chorus Singers) with meticulous detail down to every pair of spectacles adorning their faces. A warm smile welcomes chefs into an unknown culinary adventure while a digitally restored war propaganda poster highlights how glasses empower individuals during challenging times. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce peers at us through time with literary brilliance reflected in his eyes. And finally, a close-up portrait reveals an old lady adorned with traditional facial tattoos and puffing on her pipe – her glasses serving as windows into a life richly lived. They have transcended mere function; they have become symbols of style, intellectuality, and cultural diversity throughout history. So put on your favorite pair and let them transport you into a world where vision meets artistry.