4" EUROPEAN ART GLASS OPAL ORANGE & BLACK IRIDIZED MEDUSA SPIRIT WITCH BALL KUGEL

Medusa; "guardian, protectress". Zeus adorned his shield with the head of the Medusa as a means of protection. Although his enemies may or may not have turned to stone, the beauty of the Medusa certainly made his opponent hesitate in a captive stare of wonderment, thus giving Zeus the advantage in battle. The image of Medusa was later used in Roman times to adorn gardens and doors, intended to guard the home from unwelcomed guests and mishaps. The Medusa Spirit Ball is a modern day interpretation in beautiful art glass.

Witch Balls are hand blown glass spheres, with three to five strands inside for collecting evil spirits and the like. Each one is unique in color, strands, bubbles and size. Witch Balls were very popular in 18th century England, but their actual origin is thought to be much older. For well over 300 years, hollow glass spheres have been hung in windows to ward off witch's spells, evil spirits and ill fortune. Hanging these decorative balls in the window is thought to tantalize evil spirits which may be threatening a home's tranquility. The evil spirit is mesmerized by the ball's reflective beauty. Then the evil spirit touches the sphere and it is absorbed and trapped in the web-like strands of the glass inside the ball.

This was handmade in the Carpathian Mountains of Europe by skilled craftsmen and features an iridized finish for added reflectivity.

It measures approximately 4" in diameter Please note that these are handmade items and each one will have slight variations but will be representative of the one in the photo.

All of our items are in stock and ready to ship. They are personally inspected and not drop shipped from some warehouse causing you long delays in receipt of the item, issues with the condition or inflated shipping rates to account for the drop ship fee.

Please see our other listings for this item in more colors and other great gifts and collectibles!

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