Minor
Sunglasses
1969 (made)
1969 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The eyewear firm Oliver Goldsmith created this glasses frame, titled ‘Minor’, in 1969. Philip Oliver Goldsmith, a salesman for a small optical firm, founded this eyewear company in London in 1926. In 1935 his son Charles Goldsmith entered the firm with the aim of transforming glasses from a medical necessity to 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.
The firm created this frame at a time when materials were cut and shaped by hand in the company workshop. This frame’s Mother-of-pearl effect finish and exaggerated square shape made Minor a distinctive style which took advantage of fashion’s taste for stylised geometry at this time. Minor’s large size made it a pair of sunglasses to hide behind!
The firm created this frame at a time when materials were cut and shaped by hand in the company workshop. This frame’s Mother-of-pearl effect finish and exaggerated square shape made Minor a distinctive style which took advantage of fashion’s taste for stylised geometry at this time. Minor’s large size made it a pair of sunglasses to hide behind!
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Minor (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Cellulose acetate, mica |
| Brief description | Square-shaped plastic sunglasses frames 'Minor', made by Oliver Goldsmith Eyewear, Great Britain, 1969 |
| Physical description | Sunglasses with softened square-shaped frames of cellulose acetate layered over mica, giving a mother-of-pearl effect. |
| Dimensions |
|
| 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 | The eyewear firm Oliver Goldsmith created this glasses frame, titled ‘Minor’, in 1969. Philip Oliver Goldsmith, a salesman for a small optical firm, founded this eyewear company in London in 1926. In 1935 his son Charles Goldsmith entered the firm with the aim of transforming glasses from a medical necessity to 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. The firm created this frame at a time when materials were cut and shaped by hand in the company workshop. This frame’s Mother-of-pearl effect finish and exaggerated square shape made Minor a distinctive style which took advantage of fashion’s taste for stylised geometry at this time. Minor’s large size made it a pair of sunglasses to hide behind! |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.244O-1990 |
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| Record created | December 8, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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