Pyramid thumbnail 1
Pyramid thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Pyramid

Sunglasses
1966 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Philip Oliver Goldsmith, a salesman for a small optical firm, founded the Oliver Goldsmith eyewear company in London in 1926. In 1935 his son Charles Goldsmith entered the firm with the aim of making glasses a fashion item. From the company’s offices in Poland Street, his sons A. Oliver and Ray Goldsmith built upon the company’s reputation for attention-grabbing designs and solicited celebrity endorsement for their products. Key clients included Lord Snowdon, the actor Diana Dors, Princess Grace of Monaco and Diana, Princess of Wales.

A. Oliver Goldsmith designed this frame in 1966 when plastic for eyeglasses was still cut and shaped by hand in the company’s workshop. Goldsmith created the design for this frame to fit a hairstyle created by Vidal Sassoon that same year.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePyramid (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Plastic
Brief description
Plastic sunglasses 'Pyramid' in triangular form, made by Oliver Goldsmith Eyewear, Great Britain, 1966
Physical description
White plastic sunglasses with hinged plastic arms. Pyramid shape with rounded, right-angled, triangular lenses.
Dimensions
  • Height: 90mm (Note: width = 130mmm Depth = 140 mm)
  • Width: 13cm (exterior of frame)
  • Width: 11cm (interior of frame, from temple to temple)
  • Width: 6.5cm (Interior, between the tips of the two sides) (Note: The frame sides are quite stiff, and restricted in their movement. The sides curve inwards.)
Production typeReady to wear
Credit line
Given by A. Oliver Goldsmith, in memory of his father, Charles Oliver Goldsmith
Object history
Registered File number 1990/200.
These glasses form part of a design archive of the British eyewear company Oliver Goldsmith. The archive, which consists of approximately 70 glasses frames from the 1930s to the late 1980s, was donated by A. Oliver Goldsmith, grandson of the founder, and former chief designer at the firm. A. Oliver Goldsmith donated the material to the V & A in memory of his father Charles Goldsmith.
Summary
Philip Oliver Goldsmith, a salesman for a small optical firm, founded the Oliver Goldsmith eyewear company in London in 1926. In 1935 his son Charles Goldsmith entered the firm with the aim of making glasses a fashion item. From the company’s offices in Poland Street, his sons A. Oliver and Ray Goldsmith built upon the company’s reputation for attention-grabbing designs and solicited celebrity endorsement for their products. Key clients included Lord Snowdon, the actor Diana Dors, Princess Grace of Monaco and Diana, Princess of Wales.

A. Oliver Goldsmith designed this frame in 1966 when plastic for eyeglasses was still cut and shaped by hand in the company’s workshop. Goldsmith created the design for this frame to fit a hairstyle created by Vidal Sassoon that same year.
Collection
Accession number
T.244A-1990

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Record createdOctober 4, 2007
Record URL
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