Artificial eyes are not for seeing but for being seen,” says Neil Handley, Curator of the British Optical Association Museum. These prosthetics aren’t functional but aim to give wearers an acceptable appearance, concealing a missing eye. Common perceptions around physical beauty and symmetry mean that people who have lost one or both eyes have always faced social and cultural discrimination.
In his paper “Artificial eyes and the artificialisation of the human face” (Handley, 2006), Neil says that prostheses partly aim at “protecting the sensibilities of other people who might otherwise have to look at the disfigurement”.
Despite growing textual and archaeological evidence for ocular prosthetics in the ancient world (see How prosthetic eyes developed), early references to artificial eye-making in England are few and far between. A rare example is William Boyse of London, who in 1679 advertised himself as an “expert in making artificial eyes of enamel, coloured after nature” that fitted the socket and moved like the real thing. A 1699 text describes a crystal eye manufactured complete with imitation blood vessels (Robb, 1962).
In the middle of the 18th century, ocular prostheses were being made by goldsmiths. Paris dominated the art, but 100 years later Germany had become the leading producer.
Friedrich Philipp Ritterich, a doctor, was appalled at the cost of Parisian artificial eyes and advocated for a domestic industry. He persuaded the Leipzig Eye Institute to provide eyes free of charge to the poor. By 1850, Americans had begun producing their own eyes but German products were still considered the best, says Neil.
Until the 20th century, most prostheses were designed to sit over a shrunken globe and cover atrophied eyes. Neil says: “Contact lenses would not have been invented were it not for cosmetic shells. They learned that you could put something directly on the eyeball that could be tolerated.”
In 1900, the Birmingham firm Pache & Son began providing major UK hospitals with Snellen’s “Reform eye”, a double shell that prevented a sunken appearance. The West Midlands was already an optical manufacturing centre, with glass and spectacle industries in Stourbridge and Birmingham. “The skill was passed down from father to son and also to daughter,” says Neil. “It was considered light, very precise, meticulous work to suit anybody of an artistic temperament.”
During the First World War, hollow glass eyes began to replace solid forms. These lighter versions were more comfortable and allowed better movement with residual eye muscles.