The collection contains some fine examples of Japanese glasses, which
represent a manner of maintaining the glasses on the head by means of
cords which pass behind the ears and lean against the forehead. This type
of spectacle appears in Europe around the end of the 1500's and was
popularly worn by seamen in the Orient. (One must keep in mind how,
because of the generally flatter shape and relative prominence of the nose,
these oriental populations had difficulty in keeping nose glasses fixed
firmly, and therefore, from this fat date, produced such glasses flexible
and yet tightly fixed on the nose). This system with the cords remained in
use for 250 years until the arrival of the temple pieces which rested above
the ears.
 On line edition by: Sunrise Communication S.r.l. |