1-1-1. The History of Glasses in Korea
The time that glasses was introduced in Korea, in Joseon Dynasty, the hierarchy and order between adults and children was strict, resulting in many restrictions to wearing glasses, and the previous generation had a custom in wearing glasses that the new generation did not. The 19th book of by Yi Su-gwang (1563-1628) records that during the Japanese invasion of Korea, Ming Dynasty government official, Sim Yu-Gyung and Japanese Buddist monk, Hyunso, although were elderly, could clearly read fine print because they wore glasses, to which the present assembly were astonished by, and this was not experienced until then. The lens was made of crystal, and the frame, made of the shell of the hen clam. In an effort to notify the King, the reported about glasses given unto them from the forefathers, “Glasses are made of two coin-sized bulbs, the bulbs looking like mica stone, golden strips framed the bulbs, joined as one when tied with a rope or as two unfolded, and its elegance is like the writer’s deung-ja-gab (등자갑)”. In the 52nd it reads, “My vision is gradually not as it was. As it is difficult to discern viewing a book or documents without glasses, so glasses is an article that existed two-hundred years before”, which gives an insight that Jeong Jo acknowledges glasses to be introduced into this land at the end of the 16th century. Looking at historical records as Hakbong Kim Seong-Il’s glasses and Hwang Yun-suk’s <i-jae-jeon-seo(이재전서)>, it is to be assumed that glasses were introduced to Korea before the Japanese Invasion, around 1580, which is reasonably consistent with the details in the . The glasses used by Kim Seong-Il during his lifetime was discovered in Andong-si, Gyeongbuk in July 1984, which is assumed to have been bought on his visit to Ming, already in existence in China. Unlike the records that detail that no payment was made because of the Korean pride, as a country that benefits Japan culturally, and that the bought article was thrown away into the ocean, Kim Seong-Il’s glasses were completely dissimilar to that of Japan, which suggests that it was made in Korea. The shape of the bridge of the glasses resembles the pattern on the neck of a white cobalt porcelain vase of the Joseon Dynasty, the top, wide, the bottom, thinly arched that shows Joseon’s unique combination of crudeness and delicateness. The housing of the glasses is made from light Linden wood, the outer surface decorated with brass bellybutton ornaments and painted, with the inside left hollow. These tendencies are that of Korea’s treatment processes of crafted accessories, different from that of Chinese glasses.

1-1-2. The Awareness of Glasses
It took a long time in attaining a positive awareness of glasses from the general public of Korea as a scientific tool in correcting the function of an important bodily part, the eyes. Based on the ancient belief of yin and yang, and the five elements, gave only an idealistic awareness, “because people have an innate energy, we are only able to see during the day and not at night”. It was not until the publication of the that a medical research of the eyes was achievable. It stated that, “the eyes are the copies of the heaven and earth, the sun and the moon. If the heaven and earth are clear and blue the sun and the moon are bright, if the heaven and earth are dark, so are the sun and the moon”, referring to the function and significance of the eyes. According to the researcher of the Joseon Dynasty, Chong Yagyong’s ‘Medical Healing’ volume of the , a new theory approaching contemporary medicine unfolded. The theory was that “the far-sightedness and short-sightedness of the eyes are only the degree of whether the eyes are flat or convex. As a boy of young blood and vitality, the eyes are convex so he can see close, which is advantageous, but at an old age when his vitality withers, the eyes are flat, so he must see from a far distance”. In , published in 1846 during the Heonjong (literally translated Law field), it reports of a fire marble that is a type of a convex lens, and Yi Gyu-gyung’s records that in the early 19th century, an optical lens was produced using glass. Furthermore, in Yi Duk-moo’s (1741-1793) <cheong-jang-gwan-jeon-suh(청정관전서)>it discusses the circular lens shape of the glasses, “the lens is a copy of the mica, with a golden frame and a sack. Appearing as one when folded, two unfolded, which when worn by an old man, words appear big”. In Yi Su-gwang’s , a comparatively clear description of the function and materials, and history facts are given about the glasses. “The glasses are worn by an old man when reading, making small words appear big. (Omitted). They say that glasses are made from the shell of hen clams and such. As observed, old documents, difficult to read, can be viewed when shone in the sun through crystal”.

1-2. The Types of Glasses in Korea. Glasses are composed of lenses, frames, arms, a case for storage, and a tie to hang the composition. It was deduced in 1981 that glass was first manufactured in Korea on the coast of Seong-bu mountain, Weolseong-gun, in the Shilla Dynasty, where a blast furnace was discovered, which is assumed where our ancestors already were producing soda-lime glass and eon-glass. Yi Su-gwang’s explains the process of making synthetic crystal using amethyst and glass marbles, and states that glasses are made using real and synthetic crystals. The form of the lens, unlike today, was mostly entirely circular, with the oval-shaped monocles used for security purposes, generally for the use of women. Looking at the example of the significant southern rock glasses of Gyeongju, the convex lens always used white crystals only, and the difficulty of processing caused only one side of the lens to be convex, unlike today’s glasses that are convex on both sides.

1-3. Frames and Arms Depending on the materials, the frames used bull horns, wood, and tortoise shells. In the 19th century, gold, silver, white bronze and brass frames were introduced, replacing heavy materials with light materials. In general, frames used the horns of a bull that is hollow and light brown in color with an even surface, and wood that has a hard quality and is resistant in humid conditions, commonly the jujube tree. The initial form of the frames, were foldable using a rivet on the nose bridge between the two lenses. Wearing glasses was considered incredibly blasphemous, thus they were only worn when reading small print, and because of this, there was no need to properly wear them, so for convenience, glasses were made to be stabilized on the face with strings than arms. At first, a strong and superfluously decorative nose bridge ornamented with clouds or elixir plants was used without arms. Gradually for longer usage, strings were attached to be tied around the head, the mang-geon (a horsehair-woven headband), or a hat, but soon were replaced with legs that were foldable. In the twentieth century, the ear hook was made round like a fishhook; today’s L-shaped earpiece was not seen until a lot later.

1-4. Crystal Lens The bull horns for the frames were not difficult to find, but the crystals for the lenses were expensive to extract and difficult to process, making glasses a novelty item for only the rich. The southern rock gemstone of Gyeongju among the ornaments in a glasses store in northern Jong-no was regarded the best, and since there was a glasses store around every corner in the ancient times, it is only concluded that many commoners still used glasses. Korea considered crystal especially precious for use for lenses, various colored glasses were liked, and the southern rock of Gyeongju was regarded as the most luxurious. Gyeongju southern rock glasses used gemstones (aquamarine and crystal) to make the lenses, with frames made of tortoise shells, bull horns, and gold among other materials. These glasses proved to have a high degree of hardness that kept the lenses from breaking, which also did not react to temperature, keeping the eyes cool in summer and warm in winter, as well as preventing the lenses from steaming up. These qualities gave these glasses the reputation of the best product in as far as China from the early 1600’s. Even in the recent years, this home-grown product received the limelight as a landmark in Korea’s history of glasses; the extracting of the gemstones reached its limit, ceasing its supply. According to an episode that appeared on American missionary, James Gale’s , southern rock glasses buyers had to sell their necessaries in order to purchase the expensive product. As the technology in glass production developed, the beginning of mass production decreased the price, and in 1939, the products circulated varied in price range with the highest of 18 won to the lowest 2 won.

1-5. Housing The glasses are stored in a case for protection and portability. Originally, the housings were mainly for protection and portability purposes, shaped like half of a vertical bottle, with a ring on the top. As time passed, artistic elements were gradually added, reaching the epitome of the meaning of a precious piece of artwork, displaying delicate sculptural ornaments and paintings; the addition of color gave glasses cases decorative purposes. Visual senses were stimulated with carvings that were believed to bring the Five Blessings, long life, wealth, rank, and fame, with text and pictures referencing scriptures of the Sacred Book, poetry of famous poets, and spiritual carvings or embroideries of bird, trees, grass, insects, the ten traditional Symbols of Longevity, and beliefs of Confucianism and Buddhism. Additionally, the phoenix and dragons of the imaginary world were drawn or representative symbols showing the royal family, and the public decorated a frame with wood or dry fish skin to create patterns, that not only gave the case a portability function but also the function of flaunting one’s wealth or social status. The materials used to make the housing, in the beginning, were faithful to the function of protecting the glasses, using solid wood as red sandalwood, but gradually introduced metal, fish skin, and leather as materials. The first cases were conveniently shaped for portability, made of silk that held folded glasses, with quality wood, bronze and metal for the basic structure. As glasses became more generalized, the glasses case became bigger and started showing diverse appearances.

1-6. The Glasses and Manners The manners relating to glasses were incredibly particular; glasses were not to be worn at a place of public assembly, and in the presence of a person of old age or high status, as it was concluded rude behavior to do so. In Yim Bang’s portrait, it depicts a single pair of glasses on a desk, which we can derive the strictness on glass-wearing of the society. Concerning this, Yi Gyu-gyung argues a judgmental view in his , “our customs do not allow the wearing of glasses before elders, one of young age or low status are forbidden to wear them; this is truly a trifling custom”.

1-7. An Episode Relating to Glasses The recipient sent to Japan in 1783 as a result of the Woon-yang-ho (literally translated cry for help in the storm), Kim-Gisoo, made his fellow companions all wear glasses as a way of parading their superiority to the Japanese. Since in those days, only ones of respectable social ranking could wear glasses. In 1895, Seo Jae-pil, who was a refugee in the Russian legation due to Eul-mi-sa-byun (literally translated changing of matters of the year of the ram), he presented a royal audience while wearing glasses, as a result providing the pro-unionist Yi Bum-jin with the device of stratagem to argue Seo Jae-pil’s rude behavior in presenting to the public. In 1882, facing the royal family, Mullendorf took off his glasses and bowed down to them three times, receiving the favor of the King and being appointed with a high responsibility. During the Heonjong reign, Jo Byung-gu was a governor, and the brother of Queen Jo Dae-bi and uncle of Heonjong. As he had poor vision, he had to wear glasses, but due to the wearing of glasses on the entering into the palace, he was given the reproach of Heonjong, which resulted in suicide.

1-8. The Transition of Glasses The glasses of Korea could not achieve great development due to the many regulations on wearing glasses and the restricted thinking about glasses. Glasses that were passed down from the middle Joseon era of the seventeenth century, started as handmade products, and until the end of the Joseon era, only a vastly small amount was produced, reaching only a portion of a single class. Consequently, the commoner’s awareness of glasses was very rare, and it was thought of as an item that only a man of high status, as a nobleman or an elder could use. This awareness was the cause behind the decrease in production and supply of glasses, and it took around 100 years for glasses to stably find its place and achieve development. Development started from the Youngjo reign (1694-1776), which spread among households, soon arriving at the point when the King himself in his last years wore glasses in the Jeong-jo reign (1752-1800). Through reporters and envoys, a vast inflow of glasses were taken in when fruit was delivered from China and Japan, which were supplied to the market along with the Gyeongju southern rock glasses.

1-10. The Dissemination of Glasses Jo-eum (1719-1777), who was the first to bring sweet potato in, recorded the trading of glasses in the , which was written in 1763, after his trip to Japan as a reporter. Many rare and precious articles were introduced by reporters who visited Japan, or envoys that have been to China, and it appears that this was when the inflow of glasses was made. The imported glasses were supplied by independent glasses stores that produced and sold glasses as the Gyeongju southern rock glasses, or by merchants who wrapped small and light articles that were comparatively cheap, going around the village houses to sell them.

1-11. Glasses Culture in Korea There was a strict custom in the past, as a person’s facial expressions can be hidden by the wearing of glasses. The wearing of glasses was forbidden at a place of public assembly, and in the presence of a person of older age or higher status. Furthermore, it was considered impudent for a woman to wear glasses. This was because a person of young age or humble class wearing glasses before someone older or higher in status was a great disrespect. As glasses became generalized to the common public, people started showing tendencies of manifesting their status or wealth by wearing expensive glasses, which can be understood as irrelevant to east or west tendencies, as an anthropologically universal predisposition, however this phenomenon is symbolic of not only the emblem of wealth in Korea, but the representation of its authoritarianism.

1-12. The Contribution of Canadian, Oliver Avison The role of a foreign doctor with a purpose of spreading gospel was crucial in meeting the transition of the history of glasses in Korea in the sense of modernization. Newly appointed as director of Gwang-hae-won (literally translated Great Grace Hospital) in 1893, Canadian missionary Oliver Avison installed a lens grinder at the establishment of the Severance Hospital in 1904, which led to the institution specializing in glasses, accommodating science on a new level.


2. The History of Glasses in China Apart from the tale that Mongols wore glasses in sandstorms, literature displays that study on the fundamental attributes of light was done in the ancient Chinese continent. In the Spring/Fall Age of Civil Wars (8~3BC), Muk-ja examined the reflecting phenomena of light using flat, convex, and concave lenses, which led to the experimental law that recognizes the relationship between the size and position of an object and the curvature of the mirror used. Muk-ja discovered the scientific fact that “the size of a needle dipped in water depends on the part that is not submerged. The cause of this effect is because of the part that can be seen”. Around 940AD, Dam-cho wrote in his book, illustrating his experience using biconcave, biconvex, plano-concave, and plano-convex lenses. Furthermore in 1117AD, written by Yugi records his experience of wearing black glasses made of smoky quartz to hide his facial expressions from the judges and defendant. Jo-hee-gok’s (literally translated the clear records of the heaven village) states, “the dark magnifier is similar to large coins and its color is like mica” explaining the Chinese glasses, which were called “dark magnifiers”. Also it explains that, “when the eyesight of an old man becomes weak, making him unable to read small print, he is able to clearly see the print at twice its original size wearing dark magnifiers. The dark magnifiers are from the eastern region of Maraca” verifying the actuality in use of glasses and its origin. Marco Polo (1254-1324), who was in the public office of Yuan from 1271 to 1295, records in his , “the old subjects of Yuan are wearing convex-lens glasses made of the shell of a tortoise”. According to the observations of similar records of literature, the period that glasses were used in China was prior to the invention of glasses around 1280 in Italy. Especially in the details written by Marco Polo, we are able to guess that a particular social class was already using glasses before his arrival in China, however the literature to entirely support this finding has not yet been found. It is commonly acknowledged that glasses were invented and disseminated to Europe and the East by Italy.


3-1. The History of Glasses in Europe In the West, the refraction of light was discovered in as early as 400BC, and the theory on magnifying lens was completed in the late tenth century. Arab physicist and mathematician Alhazen (965-1039) declared in his book, , “The reason that an object is seen based on light is because the light from the object is received by the viewer’s eyes”, and “when light rays pass through the ball (natural marble or a transparent glass ball) of the lens, the light rays are always gathered in a position at a distance of a quarter of the diameter of the ball, and the ball, which is made of transparent mineral makes the object appear magnified”. This theory was developed two centuries later in England by Roger Bacon, contributing in the invention of the glasses. Near the end of the thirteenth-century, the graum lens was developed using a glass bulb to allow small print to be seen clearly. A pair of glasses made from these lenses was presented to the Roman pope, Clemens the fourth in the 1267, which gave birth to the first invention of glasses in Venice. Europe’s convex lens theory spread to Italy, where it joined the glass industry of Florence or Venice, resulting in the invention of the glass lens, “roidi da ogli”, which made an entry in the Glass Workers’ Trade of Association. Moreover, examining the post on Venice’s high society in 1301, it records that “for the lenses of glasses, glass cannot be used to replace crystals”, and in the sermon of Giordano da Ribalt it states that “it has not yet been twenty years in discovering the method of one of the world’s most useless technology of making glasses”; accordingly it is concluded that glasses were made around the year 1280. Articles that support this fact are Tommaso da Modena’s 1352 painting, , and the Flanders native artist Ike’s painting of around 1400, where another appearance of the glasses is made. On Domenico Ghirlandaio’s of 1480, he is portrayed wearing glasses, and on Raphael’s 1517 painting , far-sightedness glasses with concave lenses are illustrated.

3-2-1. The History of Lenses The lens is a Latin word given to it by its shape resembling an old Roman bean that is round, flat, and convex on both sides with a diameter of approximately 5mm. This bean is called “lens esculenta” appearing similar in shape as the Korean fire bean or the Chinese kidney bean. The lens, after being stripped of its mystery by Roger Bacon in the late thirteenth century, started an intimate relationship with the life of humans. The lens assumed to have been used in the ancient times used a clear, transparent gemstone such as crystal or glass, polished and plump in shape as an accessory of a portion of the governing class. In his later years, politician and orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero (101-43BC) could not properly read due to the exponentially deterioration of his vision. It is recorded that Cicero trained smart slaves to read books aloud for him. This example supports the fact that lenses were used only as accessories and not as optical tools by Cicero. During the time, the price of lenses was incredibly expensive, so only the individuals with great knowledge or power, the clergy or noblemen could purchase them. However, the quickly matured glass industry of the late eleventh century influenced the fourteenth century, introducing the use of glass as a material for lenses, generalizing glasses giving commoners the opportunity to purchase them for themselves.

3-2-2. The Development of Lenses The rise of the Renaissance Era in thirteenth century Italy gave birth to such technical professionals as Leonardo da Vinci, contributing in the standard of optics of that era, such as combining two lenses to create the bodiless telescope. Further along history, Hans invented the refracting telescope in 1608 in the Netherlands; Janssen’s invented the microscope in July 1609, which was the cause of the production of Galileo Galilei’s (1564-1642) microscope that had nine times the magnification of Janssen’s. German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) devised the object lens and the ocular, and he detailed the fundamentals and production methods of a ground telescope in , published in 1611. English scientist Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was the first to use pitching in lens grinding; he also recorded about the reflecting telescope he produced in 1668, under the title “Challenges of the New Telescope” in the March 25, 1672 issue of the . In 1889, German Augustus Muller succeeded in correcting the distorted refractions of a contact lens that is adhered to the cornea, providing the base for practical commercialization. Gullstrand developed and used the keitral lens from 1908 to 1921, which Mortiz von Lore took further to leave studies that influenced the eventual commercialization of the ‘punctal lens’ by the German Karl Zeiss company. The success of the production of a plastic lens in 1935 reached a new era of contact lenses that are light and do not crack easily.

3-3. The History of the Contact Lens In 1508, Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci conducted an experiment, significant in the production of the contact lens. He filled a large, round, thin-walled glass bowl with water and glass bulbs that were like the crystalline lens and the iris, then positioned his eyes on the outer surface of the water to observe the optical model. In 1888, ophthalmologist, Eugen Fik was the first to publish a piece called on an ophthalmology essay collection, which demonstrated a successful experiment molding a plaster cast of a rabbit eye, then blowing glass over the mold to create a lens, later dropping 2% glucose solution on the lens to be fitted onto the rabbit’s eye. For the first time in 1889, Augustus Muller used the name, cornea lens, as well as succeeding in correcting the distortion of refraction of a contact lens. In 1892, Ernst Abbe of Karl Zeiss produced the first polished contact lens, and in 1920, Wilhlm Schtok created a set of four conical contact lenses for the use on conical corneas. In 1937, William Feinbloom used synthetic resins to create a new form of the contact lens that used glass on the part of the cornea, and plastic on the part of the pupil, succeeding in making a light and thin lens that properly adhered to the pupil. In 1947, Norman Beer produced the “ventilated contact lens” that had holes on the joint section of the pupil and the cornea. In 1952, Jonges, and in 1954, Dickinson introduced a thin micro-lens that had a small diameter, and in 1958, Newton Wesley devised a bifocal lens called ‘Spercon’, and in 1959, Stephen Pelli, a multifocal lens. In 1960, Wechter and Rim produced a ‘gel contact lens’ that was soft and transparent, and had excellent flexibility with the success in forming a compound methyl acrylic acid that was able to penetrate oxygen. It also did not give irritation, and had great durability, which is today’s soft contact lens. Recently, a silicon lens was developed, which has exceptional flexibility.

3-4. The Transition of the Shape of Western Glasses

3-4-1. Riveted Spectacles The first glasses to be produced in the late thirteenth century in Venice had frames made of wood, horns, or bone, containing round crystal or glass lens in the form of a monocle, of which two were joined together with a rivet to produce glasses. On Italian artist Tommoso da Modena’s 1352 painting of the Saint Nicolas worker, , portrays the subject writing and wearing glasses. The typical form of the riveted glasses was kept for a long time that remained in the late fifteenth century, but smooth leather emerged as the material for them. The price of glasses was expensive at the time, so only the clergy, scholar, jurist, and noblemen of the upper class could afford them, symbolizing wealth, power, and knowledge, which is the basis for the portrayal of glasses in portraits of nobles, royals and priests as a form of a notice to some extent.

3-4-2. Hat Glasses As a measure of improving on the riveted glasses, the hat glasses were developed in the late fifteenth century, which can be seen on the fifteenth century Italian artist Pisano’s painting, currently exhibiting in the Louvre, Paris. The painting portrays the hat glasses being fixed on the subject’s hat; this form of glasses was favorably used by individuals of the upper class or women.

3-4-3. Glasses with a Rigid Bridge Along with the trend of the riveted glasses, another form of glasses existed that connected two monocles using an arch or a bridge. These glasses that used an arch or a bridge for convenient wearing can be seen as the foundation for the development of the contemporary earhook-style glasses.

3-4-4. Glasses with a Slit Bridge A style of glasses that was hugely fashionable in the seventeenth and eighteenth century had a flexible stick pushed into a gap made in the bridge to prevent the pressure on the nose as well as it from sliding down. The English called these ‘spectacles’.

3-4-5. Glasses Hung with a String or Ribbon Around the sixteenth century in Spain, to avoid the uncomfortable wearing of the bridge glasses, a string or ribbon was attached to the arm of the glasses to be tied around the back of the head or around the ears, with a weight on the end to prevent the glasses from sliding off.

3-4-6. The Monocle The monocle was developed in the sixteenth century as a small, convenient device that could be easily stored in pockets or wallets, used at the need of an assisting device for reading. It used horn as the main material, and in the beginning, it was only used for sight correcting purposes, but soon it was crafted with gold and silver, which attracted the upper class citizens to wear as fashionable necklaces. A development of the monocle was made to more comfortably fit the eyepit; some were fitted with a gallery around the frame for the ability to wear slightly at a distance from the eyepit ? these were called gallery glasses.

3-4-7. Scissors Glasses For those who did not like wearing glasses, glasses shaped as scissors were developed, first produced around the fifteenth century in Italy, which are assumed to have been a great trend in the eighteenth century. This is because the Baroque style of complex ornamentations was used on them. Historical figures such as Germany’s Goethe and France’s Napoleon Bonaparte were patrons of the scissors glasses.

3-4-8. Lorgnette Glasses The scissors glasses were modified to develop into glasses with handles ? the lorgnette glasses. After the development of the lorgnette glasses by English ophthalmologist George Adams around 1780, constant developments were made. A spring and handle added between the two lenses of the glasses were produced used for viewing operas, earning the nickname, opera glasses. In 1825, R. Bate acquired a patent on his development of glasses that could fold to become the size of the monocle. This design was popular among fashionable women who did not need to wear prescription glasses.

3-4-9. The History of the Opera Glasses The current opera glasses use the concave lens of the telescope invented in the Netherlands in 1608, cut to produce the shape of glasses. In 1609, a refracting telescope in the style of Galileo was made with fitted convex and concave lenses, and in 1668, after Newton invented a reflecting telescope using a concave mirror as the object lens, a silver-plating technique on the surface of glass was developed during the nineteenth century that led to the production of a reflecting telescope using a glass reflector.

3-4-10. Edward Scarlette Glasses In 1728 London, glasses merchant Edward Scarlette made long arms using wires that were bent around the years to be secured on the face. Through the invention of these arms, the pressure felt on the face and head every time glasses were worn, was lessened. Around twenty years later in 1752, James Ayscough, a glasses merchant in London, developed arms that could be folded twice, adding to the convenience and stability of wearing glasses.

3-4-11. Nose Glasses In the late nineteenth century, a light metal was meticulously crafted on a part that touches the nose with a spring or cushion. The type of frames were diverse as well as lenses that varied from circular, semi-circular, and oval, being fashionable items among both men and women.

3-4-12. Glass Spectacles The glasses, known as glass spectacles were created by glasses merchant, Waldstein of Wein, Austria around 1840. Without frames that encircle the lens, it gave users the benefit of neatness of properly showing their faces that attracted sophisticated customers, however being composed only of the lenses, bridge, and arms, they were easily broken.

3-4-13. Spy Glasses These are shaped as a bottle or fan, influenced by Napoleon’s chemical container. As they have the advantage of hiding the user’s face and being able to attentively observe others; such as diagonal glasses, which give shy users the ability to look at their lovers, and jealously glasses that lets the users examine other’s actions at no risk of their speculations.

3-5. The Transition of Glasses According to Era (Fourteenth to Twentieth Century)

3-5-1. Fourteenth Century Glasses The first two-lens glasses was two single lenses (or magnifying lenses) secured with a pin. In the beginning, these glasses were completely fixed and hand-held, or carefully positioned on the nose. As they were not worn at all times, they were used only for reading.

3-5-2. Fifteenth Century Glasses Initially, the frame of glasses were made of brass or metal, which were soon replaced with horn, bone, gold, nickel, and silver. Near the end, leather-bound glasses were introduced. As glasses were thought of as precious items, the importance of glasses cases were heightened, which began to be seen as artistic decorative items.

3-5-3. Sixteenth Century Glasses In the sixteenth century, glasses were significantly a part of life being carved even on coins; this led to the increase in the amount of people that wanted glasses. The first coin to have glasses carved was an early sixteenth century Denmark coin, which had, “look at the mysterious miracle of the gods“, scripted on it. Oval lenses, which are known to have been of around 1510, were produced for far-sightedness as large circular lenses were difficult to carve for this purpose. Horn frames were used in France in 1582 and in Italy in 1585, and in early sixteenth century, horn frames had already replaced bone frames in Germany.

3-5-4. Seventeenth Century Glasses Both the frame and the shape of lenses had noticeably changed into a much more elaborate form in the seventeenth century. As glasses were mass produced, the price decreased, and fashionable customers were inclining towards perspective glasses. Perspective glasses were smaller than the original monocle, more lenses accommodated far-sightedness, and were designed to be hung around the neck with a string or ribbon.

3-5-5. Eighteenth Century Glasses Various advances noticeably appeared in the history of glasses in the eighteenth century, among which was the practical progress of fixing glasses securely on the nose. The arms of glasses constantly developed, which were completed by a glasses merchant named Edward Scarlette of London, around 1727-1730. Initially, glasses with arms were steel products, mostly with circular lenses, with a large wheel to tightly secure them on the head, with the arms secured with a hinge. There is an Adrian Rally 1794 painting in a gallery in the Netherlands, which portrays a gentleman wearing glasses with small arms with heart-shaped ends. Monocles with handles were especially popular in the eighteenth century. A miniature telescope, which were called ‘prospect glasses’ by the English and ‘lorgnette’ by the French, were also largely popular by social men and women. The lorgnette was a precious item, decorated with gold, silver, wood, ivory, ceramic, wedgewood ceramic, leather, enamel, and jewels by artists or the clergy, which added artistic elements to its practicality.

3-5-6. Nineteenth Century Glasses In the early nineteenth century, French-made lorgnette or small spy glasses were largely popular. During the time in France, spy glasses shaped as a western boat was used, and bottle-shaped glasses influenced by Napoleon’s chemical-container was also admired. Compared to the eighteenth century, ornamentation was not as elaborate, but the color became more distinct. Around 1820, the French style of fan-shaped spy glasses was replaced by small kaleidoscopes. In an 1859 advertisement, opera glasses with adjustable focus at the twist of the handle were displayed. At the end of the century, monocles were wearable without the dependence of handles, and the shape also became transitioned into a circular form. Near the beginning of the century the lens was large and circular, but eventually changed into a smaller circular form, and later became octagonal, oval, and rectangular. In the 1890’s, bifocal lenses were spread to England and America. Nose glasses were introduced in the 1840’s, which became popular in the late nineteenth century that both men and women could wear. Nose glasses were not available only in one or two countries, but the whole western region.

3-5-7. Twentieth Century Glasses The development of glasses in the twentieth century far exceeds its evolution of the six previous centuries. The completion of bifocal and quadrafocal glasses were seen, and not only was the development of contact lenses spread across regions, the size of lenses was reduced and discomfort was minimized. During the time, the materials used to make frames were gold, silver, steel, brass, nickel, tin and alloy. Around 1916, glasses with heavy lenses were continually popular. According to Leyland, gold-plated frames were more widely used than steel or gold in 1923. Bosch and Lomb produced the crooks glass lens. This is a special lens with three shades of light, medium, and dark colors, used on special sunglasses. Until the early 1940’s many different contact lenses were made usable. However they were all relatively large, so were not for long-time wear. In a 1947 issue of the , it paid attention to the trend in sunglasses and stated that, “dark colored-glasses were a symbol of blindness. But Hollywood has completely made this a trend, making it a style item universally wanted by the old and the young. Accordingly, the wearing of uniquely shaped frames with diversely colored lenses has washed in as the wave”. In the beginning of 1960’s, 60% of the customers wanted “durable frames”, celebrities favored “heavy shapes of dark colors”, and wives suggested their husbands to purchase “dark colored glasses”, as they created the effect of appearing young. The trend of glasses had seemed to have reached its peak, with square, rectangular, octagonal, oval, striped, patterned, and multi-colored lenses. Eventually, glasses attached its weight on not ‘what you see’ but ‘how you are seen’.

3-6. Glasses Cases Unlike the Chinese and Korean cases that have strings attached, Western glasses cases do not have strings, and are made for convenience and portability. This difference in form is seemingly dependent on whether or not the user has a pocket to store the glasses in. The traditional clothing of China and Korea generally did not have pockets, whereas Western clothing had pockets, giving no need for a string on the case of glasses. Because of the generalization of Western style of clothing, current glasses cases are transitioning into a stringless form. Suiting to the function of symbolizing one’s social status or wealth, the material and pattern of the case appropriately corresponded to its owner. The main class of users consisted of royals, nobles, the clergy, and scholars, whom were not limited by the price of materials, thus they considered materials that could show dignity and class, with most of the users carving their family heirlooms, relics, and history. High quality ivory, gold, silver, the bone and leather of an animal, shells, fish skin, and straw were processed to create the cases, but cases using tanned leather or metalware were most common. The most precious glasses were kept in cases that had the masks of odd creatures or lions painted on them. Soon, such cases were introduced that were beautifully decorated with a scene from the Bible or religious symbols.

3-7. Glasses Culture in the West In the beginning, glasses consumers were mostly the clergy, scholars, jurists, and nobles, who belonged to the upper class. In the late thirteenth century, because it was a feudal society centered on nobles, all academia was exclusive property, and the commoners who dared not even think of approaching academia, could not use glasses. The high price of glasses was also an element that restricted customers to those of the upper class. Because of these reasons, glasses became exclusive to the upper class, and they became an emblem symbolizing wealth, power, and knowledge. In portraits of nobles, royals, and priests, glasses appeared almost as a sign of wealth, and glasses were even shown on paintings that illustrated stories from the Bible.</cheong-jang-gwan-jeon-suh(청정관전서)></i-jae-jeon-seo(이재전서)>