I.E. Milk theatrical binoculars in mother-of-pearl design

Beautiful binoculars in excellent collectible condition. Brass, lenses, mother of pearl. In an original leather trunk with a branded gold crowding. The bottom of the trunk slightly departs from the body, otherwise the subject is without comment. Guarantee of authenticity.

Optical firm I.E. Milk. Russia, St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, 46 (central store); Liteyny Prospekt, 43; Moscow, B. Dmitrovka str., 13, 1st floor (optical mechanics store, since the late 1880s); Odessa (the exact address is not known).

The company was founded in 1848 by the optician Johann Emil (Ivan Ivanovich) Milk (1807-1866), a native of Germany, in St. Petersburg in the form of a workshop for grinding optical glasses and an optical goods store. In 1859, Milk opened a mechanical workshop for the manufacture of metal tools, plumbing supplies, small machines and locksmith tools, which by 1861 had about 20 workers. At the 1861 Manufactory Exhibition in St. Petersburg, I.E. Milk, who by that time had become a merchant of the 2nd guild, was awarded public praise.

After his father's death in 1866, the business was continued by his son Friedrich Wilhelm Bernard (Fyodor Ivanovich) Milk (1839-after 1906), also a merchant of the 2nd guild (since 1867).  In 1869, together with his younger brother, the Prussian (since 1914 Russian) subject Adolf Emil Kazimir (Adolf Ivanovich) Milk (1848 -after 1917), and his son-in-law, the Hessian-Darmstadt subject Maximilian Bergstresser, established the trading house "I. E. Milk" in the form of a full partnership with a capital of 28,000 rubles. In 1870 F. I. Milk himself made glasses and lorgnettes for Empress Maria Alexandrovna, in 1877 - for Emperor Alexander II.

In 1873, the company was awarded the title of supplier of the St. Petersburg Eye Hospital. In 1882, a branch was opened in Moscow (headed by A. I. Milk), where it proved itself well by the high quality of products and became a commission agent of the Imperial Moscow University.

Since the 1880s, F. I. Milk was an honorary member of the committee of the St. Petersburg Eye Hospital and the orphanage of Prince Peter of Oldenburg, for charitable activities he was awarded the titles of personal honorary (since 1889) and hereditary honorary (since 1896) citizen. In 1902, the firm "I.E. Milk" received the title of "Optician of the Court of His Majesty and Her Royal Majesty the Queen of the Hellenes". The products of the Milka trading house received awards at prestigious domestic and international exhibitions, including the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896.

In 1906, by the decision of the St. Petersburg Orphan Court, F.I. Milk was limited in legal capacity due to senile dementia. His son Friedrich Albrecht Joseph (Fyodor Fedorovich) Milk (1883 - after 1917), together with A. I. Milk and Nikolai Maximilianovich Bergstresser, in 1906 transformed the company into a partnership on shares under the former name (folding capital – 30,000 rubles). The company of the partnership produced glasses, pince-nez, lorgnettes, binoculars of all systems, microscopes, barometers, thermometers, readymakers and other drawing tools. The authors did not meet Milka's prismatic binoculars, while theatrical and Galileo binoculars are periodically found on the antique market. Almost all of these binoculars are branded "Optician I.E. Milk" in a circle on each of the eyepieces. The brand name was also applied in gold on the inside of the trunk lid. No information about the supply of Milka binoculars by army orders has been preserved, however, it cannot be excluded that binoculars of this company could be purchased by officers at their own expense.

In 1910, A. I. Milk stood out from the business and together with his son, a Russian citizen (since 1909), George Adolfovich Milk, established the trading house "A. I. Milk and Son" in Moscow for the trade in optical products.

In 1914, he was awarded the title of hereditary honorary citizen for his work on the free hospital of military doctors in Moscow for the poor of every rank. The remaining co-owners of the Milk family firm in St. Petersburg, F. F. Milk and N. M. Bergstresser, in 1911 re-registered it in their own name and increased the folding capital to 40,000 rubles.