Chinese Glasses

Two honey-brown rings joined by a slim bridge, ready for a very patient nose.

This pair of glasses is from China, and dates to the 20th century. It is tortoise shell & glass. Spectacles reached China by the later Ming period and were widely worn by the Qing era, often with round lenses held in lightweight frames. Viewed whole, a pair of round, open rims in glossy amber brown, linked by a thin pale metal bridge arched above. Small fittings cap each rim where the bridge meets it. The rims are smooth with faint darker mottling and a few tiny pin marks. It is 2 inches wide and 2 deep.

Spectacles with no lenses and complete confidence in their frame.