Te Puke Man Seeks Home for Unusual Collection of 2,500 Artificial Eyes

Te Puke resident Bruce Brown is looking for a new home for his remarkable collection of more than 2,500 artificial eyes. The collection was bequeathed to him by his father, James Brown, a prosthetic eye maker who travelled the North Island offering his services nearly 30 years ago.

Each eye in the collection is unique, with James hand-painting the irises individually, sometimes while sitting in front of the patient. He would also add bits of red velvet to mimic veins in the whites of the eyes. Bruce is now seeking individuals, businesses, or a worthy cause such as a museum to cherish this distinctive anthology.

Originally published in Te Puke News by Sun Media.