The fabrication of an artificial eye dates back to the times of the Egyptians. When the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered, many exhibits revealed that the artists of that time had knowledge of producing artificial eyes from various materials. Some of these exquisite examples of their work were made of clear quartz and were hand painted from the backside to achieve depth in their effort to duplicate the natural eye. They also had knowledge of glass making and produced some very beautiful articles in fired cloisonné as well.

Human glass artificial eyes date back to the early 1800's and while these were fragile, the artists produced very life-like reproductions of the human eye. The making of glass artificial eyes today is almost a lost art because of their limitations and fragile nature. If they were not accidentally broken, they generally had to be replaced annually as they were subject to etching by body fluids that made them uncomfortable and unsightly to wear.

For past decades the majority of human glass artificial eyes and raw materials were imported from East Germany, but during World War II these supplies were completely cut off. There wasn't a source of supply in any of the allied nations nor technicians who could provide needed materials resulting in substituting plastic for glass.