Antique Lemaire Fabt Paris Black Opera Glasses / Field Binoculars

The eye lenses on this old piece are marked LEMAIRE FABT – PARIS. Jacques Lemaire (aka LeMaire) founded a company in his name that produced decorative binoculars and opera glasses between 1847 and 1900. FABT is an abbreviation for the French word fabricant, ie. manufacturer or maker.
 
We believe these are made of brass, with black stain rubbed off in many places. There is a dent on the right side binocular. The cloth covering the base of the binoculars is believed to be a dark brown leather, which may have shrunk a little over time, baring the base, and has started to split within the center as shown in photos. The central wheel adjusts magnification, which we believe allows for a zoom of 2x maximum. While there may be some dust in the lenses when viewed from the exterior, we found they still work and could not see dust in the view window when focusing on something far away.
 
Note: These do not allow for adjustments for those with eyes closer or further together than average, the metal plates holding the viewing cylinders strictly in place.
 
Approx H 4” x L 4 3/8” x D 1 7/8”
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.