| NAME |
DATES |
CONTRIBUTIONS |
PHOTO |
LOCATION |
FEATURES |
COMMENTS |
| Yoshimasa Ashikaga |
1436-1490 |
Eighth
Shogun |
|
The
Daisenin Temple (Kyoto) |
These
are very decorative and beautiful Rivet Spectacles in an original special
case. Both are made of hand-carved white ivory.
|
Unless
something earlier exists at the Vatican Museum this pair, supposedly used by
Shogun Ashikaga in the 15th century and then handed down to the twelfth
Shogun Yoshiharu Ashikaga (1511-1550), quite possibly is the oldest vision
aid in the world with known provenance. |
| Willibald Pirckheimer |
1470-1530 |
Nuremberg councilor and humanist. He was a friend of Albrecht
Durer and also of Martin Luther |
|
Wartburg Castle, Eisenach, Germany |
Leather-framed Circa 1520 |
In 1867 these six leather spectacles located in Pirckheimer’s
library were discovered behind the bookshelves. |
| Saint
Philip Neri |
1515-1595 |
A true
apostle of Rome, the comforter of the sick and of the dying, mendicant for
the poor, humble teacher of the child, simple and persuasive predicate,
spiritual director of consciences, who was loved and appreciated by the
aristocratic and the plebeian, by the rich and the poor, by the child and
the old man. |
 
|
Memory
Rooms of Capitular Church Chiesa of Santa Maria in Vallicella, in Rome |
Three
pair of spectacle (one
leather, one metal, and another possibly of leather) and also a leather case
for two pair with embossed religious stages
|
Optical
objects used by
early religious leaders MAY exist at the Vatican Museum but information and
images are not yet available
|
| Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol
|
1529-1595 |
Founder
of the famous Kunst-und- Wunderkammer of Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck in
Tyrol.
|
  |
Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna, Austria
|
Very
fancy French-made gold and enamel highly decorative case, last quarter 16th
century
|
In the
inventory of his possessions made in 1596 four pairs were identified:
roughly translated - "an ordinary pair of glasses for the eyes" "a pair
of glasses for the eyes with gold frame in a black velvet case" also "two
pairs of glasses for the eyes, one in gold and one in silver"
|
| Sung El Kim |
1538-1593 |
He was a famous person who held public office of his own in
the government system of the Chosun Dynasty. He was a diplomat who
frequently visited China and Japan. He was deeply related with big
Korean-Japan war of the 1580’s (Im-Jin-Wae-Ran) because he” refused a Korean
armory preparement against Japanese big power of that times, they say”. |
 |
Held in the family in Korea, by the 14th generation son (Mr.
See Woo Kim) |
Body material: Shell of tortoise Nose hinge (attached at the
opposite of front side) material: Brass Front decoration and nail material:
copper Case material:linden (lime tree, basswood) wood Cover decoration:
naval figure made of brass Cover painting: lacquer Inside painting: none
missing the lenses |
At a private Confucianism museum at An-Dong Province, Korea.
The ChoSun Dynasty lasted from 1392-1910 |
| Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu |
1543 –1616 |
Founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan |
 |
as seen in the Photo Book of Japanese Spectacles by Kiyokawa Shoichi. “given by the family” |
Nose spectacles in tortoiseshell |
a few have now been seen in tortoiseshell – nearly all the others are horn. Also it was not expected that this style even existed in the early 17th century |
| Saint
Giuseppe Calasanzio |
1557-1648 |
Priest,
teacher, patron saint of Roman Catholic schools, and founder of the Ordo
Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum (Order of Poor
Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools), popularly called
Piarists. |
 |
San
Pantaleo, Rome |
Remnants of 2 whalebone spectacles |
He was
the creator and Inventor of the first popular elementary school for the poor
children in the world in 1597. |
| Takuan Soho |
1573-1645
|
A celebrated Zen Buddhist monk from Japan who was the son of an
impoverished retired samurai. A representative of the Rinzai sect, he was
appointed in 1610 abbot of the main temple Daitokuji. Takuan was known for
his brute honesty and meticulously perceptive personality, which was sought
after by monks, swordsmen, and politicians alike.
|
 |
located at the Tokaiji Temple, Tokyo |
single copper wire, most likely handmade |
from the Dr. Hiroo Nagaoka, The History of Eyeglasses
in Japan, written in 1967 |
| Adolf Gustav |
1594-1632 |
King of Sweden 1611-1632 |
 |
Uppsala University, Museum Gustavianum, The Augsburg Art
Cabinet |
Leather framed tinted polyhedral multiplying lenses A folding
silver-gold pair with minus lenses |
Made in Augsburg. The polyhedral pair in the leather frame
was made by James Weisel. These two objects were placed in the Art Cabinet
but there is no actual proof that he wore them himself. |
| Duke
Friedrich III of Holstein Gottorp |
1597-1654 |
He had
the title "Erbe zu Norwegen".
On the
case the coat of arms of Holstein, placed on a cross with a crown at each
end. In between each arm of the cross is the Norwegian Lion.
|
 |
This
has been at Rosenborg Castle from before 1696. |
A pair
of engraved gold nose spectacles with original lenses and hinged bridge
which folds into a gold banjo case, c. 1650.
|
The
glasses could be political satire by the Danish King Frederik III (1609-70)
of the bad political relations to Gottorp after the independency of the
duchy in 1658? |
| Fredrick III, King of Denmark |
1609-1670 |
King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He
stands as the ruler who introduced absolute monarchy in Denmark. He founded
the Royal Library in Copenhagen. |
 |
Castle Rosenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark |
Wheel-lock rifle with a viewing scope fixed on the stalk of
the gun (single gold-rimmed lens magnifier) Circa 1618 |
Gold mounting, plano- Convex rock crystal, +.75 also 30 mm
diameter Mounting has a ball in Socket joint and can be Rotated in various
positions |
| George
Fox |
1624-1691 |
An
English dissenter and the founder of the
Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. |
  |
Atwater Kent Museum, Historical Society of Pennsylvania |
Nearly
6 ½ “ diameter with a horn frame and handle |
Quite
possibly this is the earliest magnifier in the world with known provenance |
| King
James II |
1633-1701 |
King of England,
King of Scots, and
King of Ireland
1685. He was the last
Catholic monarch to reign over the
Kingdom of England,
Kingdom of Scotland, or
Kingdom of Ireland. His subjects distrusted his religious policies and
alleged despotism, leading a group of them to depose him in the “Glorious
Revolution”. He died in exile |
  |
Victoria & Albert Museum |
Beautifully painted Mother of Pearl case with gilded tortoiseshell and
silver trimmings. Probably made in France, it is of the “very highest
quality – certainly fit for a king’s use.” The
spectacles are folding English nose spectacles of silver and tortoiseshell,
probably first quarter 18th century
|
This
case is wonderful handcrafted artwork. The spectacles most likely do not
belong with the case and were not worn by King James II during his lifetime. |
| Johann
Kupetsky, the Elder |
1667-1740 |
Hungarian Painter |
  |
Optisches Museum, Jena
|
Large
leather English baleen spring spectacles, circa 1730 |
|
| Saint
Crispino da Viterbo |
1668-1750 |
Spent
most of his life in the Capuchin monastery of Orvieto. He was also the
spiritual advisor of important prelates of his times, including the Pope
Clemente XI. |
 |
Private
collection |
Nuremberg single copper wire spectacles |
This
reliquary was made for the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor Capuchins |
| August the Strong |
1670-1733 |
Prince Friedrich August I reigned as King of Poland and Duke
to Saxonia. He acquired military fame on the battlegrounds against the Turks
before Vienna. His name was appropriate because of his large body strength.
His son Friedrich August II. (1699-1763) was King of Poland from 1734-63.
Under their rule Saxonia became the third German great power beside
Brandenburg Prussia and Habsburgi Austria. |
 |
private collection |
Etuis made of porcelain from Meissen |
|
| Lord George Murray |
1694-1760 |
Scottish Jacobite (rebel) general who was the fifth son of John Murray, 1st
Duke of Atholl. He was also the brother of the 2nd Duke. George participated
in the 1715 rising, was exiled, pardoned and then took command during the
1745 rising, after which he fled to Holland. |
| Blair Castle |
These are Nuremberg single wire spectacles,
first half, 18th century |
|
| Daniel
Bernoulli |
1700-1782 |
Dutch-born
mathematician who spent much of his life in
Basel,
Switzerland. He worked with
Leonhard Euler on the equations bearing their names.
Bernoulli's principle is of critical use in
aerodynamics.
|
  |
The
highly respected Ramstein Collection - Basel |
Silver
X bridge - double hinge, in a pull-off case. |
The X
bridge is felt to be a very early 19th century development – so the
provenance of this example remains a bit questionable |
| John Wesley
|
1703-1791 |
An Anglican cleric and Christian theologian who was the founder of the
(Evangelical) Armenian Methodist movement.
|
 |
|
Round frame Silver specs, double hinge sides
|
In a tortoiseshell case with a silver name plate
|
| Dr.
Samuel Johnson |
1709-1784 |
One of
England's greatest literary figures: a
poet,
essayist,
biographer,
lexicographer, and often esteemed the finest
literary critic in
English |
  |
British
Optical Association Museum |
Round
frame tortoiseshell |
Very
unusual sidearms, notice the unique 90 degree angle |
| Abraham
Redwood |
1709-1788 |
One of
the founders of the Redwood Library. He was a ship owner, merchant,
plantation and slave owner, state assemblyman, botanist, and philanthropist.
He became one of the richest men in Newport. |
 
 |
Redwood
Library & Athenaeum
|
Martin’s Margins with double hinge and spatula endings |
|
| Benjamin Franklin |
1709-1790 |
“As a
printer, moralist, essayist, inventor, diplomat, and philosopher, Benjamin
Franklin was a model for the national character,” is quoted in the Academic
American Encyclopedia. He served his nation as a statesman, scientist, and
public leader”. The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) notes that he is, “one
of the most extraordinary human beings the world has ever known.” Franklin
stands in the front rank of men who built the United States. He was the only
man who signed all four of these key documents in American History: The
Declaration of Independence (1776), The Treaty of Alliance with France
(1778), The Treaty of Peace with Great Britain (1783), and The Constitution
of the United States (1787). |
 |
Atwater Kent Museum - Historical Society of Pennsylvania |
Magnifier with a leather frame and handle |
Donated
by Callender Price in 1846 |
| King
Louis XV |
1710-1774 |
Known
as the “Well-Beloved”, King of
France from
1715 to
1774. Miraculously surviving the death of his entire family, he was
loved by the French at the beginning of his reign. However, in time, his
inability to reform the French monarchy and his policy of appeasement on the
European stage lost him the support of his people, and he died as one of the
most unpopular kings of France. |
 |
In a
private collection |
Solid
gold Martin’s Margins in a shagreen case with solid gold trim, around 1770. |
This is
a fabulous object and the only know solid gold Martin’s Margin in existence. |
| Ocontastota |
1710-1783 |
Cherokee Chief, the Warrior of Chota and the First Beloved
Man of the Cherokee from 1775 to 1781 |
 |
Frank H. McClung Museum, The University of Tennessee,
Knoxville |
|
His remains were identified during the archeological digs at
the Chota site by a pair of reading glasses which he owned and that were
buried with him |
