The earliest known prosthetic eye was found buried with a woman in Shahr-I Sokhta, Iran in 2006. Archaeologists determined that this eye is from approximately 2900-2800 BC and was found still embedded in the eye socket of a woman's skull of 28-32 years. It has a hemispherical form and a diameter of just over 2.5 cm. Metals like Gold and Silver. were used to make artificial eye.
Ambrose Pare of Paris published a book describing various types of artificial eye. He is considered to be the pioneer of modern artificial eyes. His artificial eye were designed to be used above an atrophic (shrinkage) eye, as enucleation (surgery) was not a common practice until the middle of the 1800s. He used glass and porcelain to fabricate artificial eyes.
A German craftsmen (later coined Ocularists) began to tour the United States and other parts of the world, setting up for several days at a time in one city after another where they fabricated eyes and fit them to patients.
Germany became the center of glass eye production. Ludwig Müller-Uri, a German maker of doll's eyes, developed a new glass called Cryolite, which was smoother and more resistant to tears.
In the United States, eyes continued to be made of glass until the onset of World War II, when German goods were limited and German glass blowers no longer toured the United States. The United States military, along with a few private practitioners, developed a technique of fabricating prostheses using oil, pigments and plastics. Since World War II, plastic has become the preferred material for the artificial eye in the United States .
Mrs. Shanno Rani is considered firts Ocularisrt of India. She visited U.K. in 1962 to learn the art of making Custom made cosmetic lenses and artificial eyes. Later She started India’s first Prosthetic eye centre in 1975 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA.
Art Eyes was founded By Ocularists Sachin & Shreya Gupta on 24th June, 2010 as Delhi’s first private prosthetic eye Lab. In 2020 Art Eyes became North India’s 1st NEBO (USA) certified Ocular Prosthetic Eye Lab.