Inuit snow goggles, opera glasses disguised as ladies' handheld fans and experimental sunglass designs from the 1960s feature among a trove of historical eyewear that has gone on display at Design Museum Holon.
The glasses belongs to a single collector, Claude Samuel, the son of a former eyewear designer for French fashion brand Pierre Cardin.
The exhibition includes experimental designs from the 1960s, like these double frame plastic sunglasses made in Italy
His collection spans some 400 objects dating back to the 17th century, including eyeglasses, sunglasses, pince-nez, lorgnettes, monocles, safety goggles, opera binoculars and the elaborate eye-testing headgear known as phoropters.
Israel's Design Museum Holon ? a building designed by Ron Arad ? is presenting the collection as one part of its exhibition Overview, which is dedicated to exploring the relationship between vision and design. The collection also features safety goggles, like this aluminium and rubber pair from 1960s France, used for welding
"The exhibition will not only enable an observation of the cultural history of eyeglasses, but also of the designer's role throughout the process," said Overview exhibition curator and Holon's acting chief curator as Maya Dvash.
"We tend to forget that the initial purpose of eyeglasses was to correct a flaw, and eyeglasses do not conceal that flaw, but actually emphasise it by means of design."
Benjamin Martin eyeglasses, made in 1756 from metal and b...