Pair of opera glasses with bridge-mounted handle. Glasses and handle with mother-of-pearl veneer and gold wash metal. Marked "Lemaire Fi Paris" and "A.B. Griswold & Co. New Orleans, LA." 

Comes with original brown velvet bag. 

Size Together: 4 x 2 5/8 x 6 1/4 in. 

#2282 . 

Opera glasses, also known as theater binoculars or Galilean binoculars, are compact, low-power optical magnification devices, usually used at performance events, whose name is derived from traditional usage at opera performances. Lower magnification power is usually desired in these circumstances in order to minimize image shake and maintain a large enough field of view. The design of many modern opera glasses of the ornamental variety is based on the popular lorgnettes of the 19th Century. In addition to the more stereotypical binocular type, folding opera glasses were another common design. They were made mostly of metal and glass, with a leatherette cover for grip and color. Although folding glasses have existed in one form or another since the 1890s, they were most popular in the mid-20th Century. The design can still be purchased new, although the most common contemporary designs are now almost entirely plastic. 

The name A.B. Griswold & Co. indicates this piece was distributed through them for Lemaire Fi, meaning they were crafted some time between 1865 and 1924, which is when the company ceased to exist.

Good.