Louise Weston Sewell used these mother-of-pearl inlay opera glasses with the velvet bag holder. Born in Livermore Falls, Sewell graduated from Westbrook Seminary in 1904 and learned to love opera and the theater while attending finishing school in Newton, Massachusetts, and later as a student at Vassar College.

Usually made of luxury materials like mother of pearl, opera glasses were as much a fashion statement as they were a tool for zooming in on the stage. Jacques Lemaire began making opera glasses in 1847. The company logo was a bee, visible on the eyecups of these opera glasses.