Zig Zag thumbnail 1
Zig Zag thumbnail 2
Not on display

Zig Zag

Glasses
1982 (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 actress Diana Dors, Princess Grace of Monaco.

A. Oliver Goldsmith created this glasses frame in 1982 in an attempt to create a somewhat traditional shape, but with a distinctive twist. The company offered this style in four solid colours and eight different striped colour combinations.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleZig Zag (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Plastic
Brief description
Round plastic framed glasses 'Zig Zag', made by Oliver Goldsmith Eyewear, Great Britain, 1982
Physical description
Round red plastic framed glasses with a white and blue candy stripe pattern circling a portion of the frame and the sides.
Dimensions
  • Width: 14cm
  • Height: 6cm
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 actress Diana Dors, Princess Grace of Monaco.

A. Oliver Goldsmith created this glasses frame in 1982 in an attempt to create a somewhat traditional shape, but with a distinctive twist. The company offered this style in four solid colours and eight different striped colour combinations.
Collection
Accession number
T.245R-1990

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
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