Tennis Racket thumbnail 1
Tennis Racket thumbnail 2
Not on display

Tennis Racket

Sunglasses
1985 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

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 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 created this sunglasses frame, titled ‘Tennis Racket’, in 1985, as a re-design of T.243 E-1990, the original tennis racket design from 1956. This frame reflects fashion’s enthusiasm for a black and white palette. They were sold with two pairs of lenses: one etched with a pattern of tennis strings, the other plain.This design is also housed in the collection of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleTennis Racket (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Etched plastic
Brief description
Plastic sunglasses 'Tennis Racket' with eye pieces shaped like a pair of tennis rackets, made by Oliver Goldsmith Eyewear, Great Britain, 1985
Physical description
Black and white plastic sunglasses framed with eye pieces shaped like a pair of tennis rackets. Glass surface etched in the pattern of tennis racket strings.
Dimensions
  • Height: 9cm
  • Width: 16cm
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.
Subject depicted
Summary
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 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 created this sunglasses frame, titled ‘Tennis Racket’, in 1985, as a re-design of T.243 E-1990, the original tennis racket design from 1956. This frame reflects fashion’s enthusiasm for a black and white palette. They were sold with two pairs of lenses: one etched with a pattern of tennis strings, the other plain.This design is also housed in the collection of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.
Collection
Accession number
T.245A-1990

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSON