Collection of about 350 Victorian hand-painted glass eyes sold for £3600 at East Bristol Auctions.
In a mahogany cabinet originally from one of the earlier stores owned by Bristol-based Dunscombe Opticians, each of the nine drawers denoted by colour of the eye, some of the prosthetics were catalogued as a/f but most were in good original condition.
Estimated at £800-1200 at the December 17 sale, the collection caught the attention of a number of bidders up to about £1500. Phone bidders then took over and a German buyer finally clinched victory at £3600 – about £12 per orb taking the premium into account.
