Maltese eyes: iris color, shape and epicanthic fold in 45 observed portraits

Maltese: iris color Brown in 57% of 28; eye shape Almond in 69% of 45; upper eyelid crease type Double, medium (~6-9mm) in 84% of 37; epicanthic fold Absent in 97% of 38; palpebral fissure slant Slight upslant in 47% of 45; eyebrow shape Soft arch in 82% of 45.

Catalog portraits for Maltese are AI-generated adult subjects; the measurements on this page come from documented photographs of real people, not from these images.

Iris color

n = 28 assessable · 18 not assessable

Predominant color of the iris. Heterochromia is captured as its own value; mixed colors (e.g. hazel, blue-green) get distinct buckets.

Value	Share	n
BrownMedium to dark brown iris; visible iris detail.	57%	16
dark brown	21%	6
BlueTrue blue; highest frequency in Northern European populations, decreases southward.	11%	3
Very dark brown / black-appearingIris appears nearly black under typical lighting; high melanin content. Common in East Asian, South Asian, Sub-Saharan African, and indigenous populations.	7%	2
Light brownLighter brown with visible warmth; sometimes called amber when more golden.	4%	1

Vocabulary: Iris color (iris_color_qualitative)

Eye shape

n = 45 assessable

Overall shape of the visible eye, considering the silhouette of the upper and lower lid margins together. Independent dimension from eyelid_crease_type and epicanthic_fold, which capture finer morphological variation.

Value	Share	n
AlmondSlightly elongated horizontal axis; mild taper at lateral and medial canthi. Considered the aesthetic reference shape.	69%	31
Deep-setEye sits deep within the orbital socket; pronounced shadow above the upper lid. Brow ridge typically prominent.	24%	11
HoodedUpper lid skin descends over the lid crease, partially or fully covering the upper lid platform. Often associated with periorbital aging but can be constitutional.	4%	2
RoundVertical and horizontal axes approximately equal; minimal canthal taper. Visible sclera above and below the iris.	2%	1

Vocabulary: Eye shape (eye_shape_qualitative)

Upper eyelid crease type

n = 37 assessable

Morphology of the upper eyelid supratarsal crease. The single most ethnically-variant periocular dimension. The Asian-ophthalmology / Asian-blepharoplasty literature provides the canonical classification system, distinguishing several functional and aesthetic patterns.

Value	Share	n
Double, medium (~6-9mm)Mid-position crease; common reference range for European-population eyelids.	84%	31
Double, low (~3-5mm above lash line)Crease present but sits low on the lid, close to the lash line. Common in East Asian populations with double lids.	16%	6

Vocabulary: Upper eyelid crease type (mccurdy_chen_eyelid_crease)

Epicanthic fold

n = 38 assessable

Presence and morphology of the epicanthic fold — the skin fold of the upper eyelid that may cover the medial canthus. Significant ethnic variation; high prevalence in East Asian, Central Asian, and indigenous American populations.

Value	Share	n
AbsentNo epicanthic fold; medial canthus clearly visible.	97%	37
TarsalisFold begins at the upper lid skin and inserts on the lower lid, covering the medial canthus. The most common epicanthic-fold variant in East Asian populations.	3%	1

Vocabulary: Epicanthic fold (duke_elder_epicanthus_classification)

Palpebral fissure slant

n = 45 assessable

Angle of the palpebral fissure axis (line from medial to lateral canthus) relative to horizontal. Significant ethnic variation; East Asian populations average steeper upslant than European populations.

Value	Share	n
Slight upslantLateral canthus slightly higher than medial; ~5-10° above horizontal. Within the European aesthetic reference range.	47%	21
Slight downslantLateral canthus slightly below medial; visible fatigue or aging appearance.	38%	17
HorizontalLateral canthus at the same level as medial canthus; axis approximately 0°.	16%	7

Vocabulary: Palpebral fissure slant (fissure_axis_qualitative)

Eyebrow shape

n = 45 assessable

Overall arch and shape of the eyebrow as visible in the photograph.

Value	Share	n
Soft archGentle, gradual arch; arch peak in the lateral two-thirds.	82%	37
Flat / descendingNo arch; brow descends laterally toward the temple.	9%	4
StraightMinimal arch; nearly horizontal brow line.	4%	2
High archPronounced arch with a clear peak; stronger lateral-tail descent.	4%	2

Vocabulary: Eyebrow shape (eyebrow_shape_qualitative)

Where these numbers come from

47 publicly documented portraits of notable Maltese people were assessed by a vision model against the full 22-vocabulary schema, one value per dimension. Values are what the photographs show, read by a model, not population measurements. Each table counts only portraits where the value could be assessed; covered, obscured and unclear portraits are reported separately.

Notable-people corpora skew older, so hair color over-represents gray and white, and image quality varies. Treat shares as a description of this sample.

These rows are not yet in the published catalog dataset, which currently carries the earlier single-row analysis; see the methodology. A family page exists only when at least 10 portraits carry an assessable value.