Ancient charm to ward off witches for sale by auction
Picture by Roger Bamber 25 January 2000 Sothebys assistant Lindsay Drewett inspects one of 21 rare glass witch balls up for sale by auction in an International Sale at Sothebys South Billingshurst on Wednesday 1st February with an estimate of 2400 pounds sterling The first recorded witch ball comes from 1690 Also known as wish balls or watch balls they were large heavy glass balls coated with a silver or gold reflective gloss or brightly coloured paint 18th century witch balls tended to be smaller and be decorated with swirling multi coloured patterns A witch ball would be hung in the window of a cottage or house to attract and neutralise the evil eye of any passing witch by its reflection or by puzzling the witch with its pattern Another type of witch ball was made of plain glass filled with brightly coloured tangled threads which was believed to have the same effect
Size: 3823px × 2238px
Photo credit: © Roger Bamber / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: alchemy, beauty, britain, byegone, days, delicate, england, fairy, faith, folklore, fragile, heritage, history, magic, mystical, pagan, powerful, protect, spell, supersition, tale, tradition, travel, uk, wicca, witchcraft
