The Garden Gets a Gazing Ball

I suppose the first time I ever heard of a gazing ball was when I was around eight or nine years old. One of my favorite activities at that age was to rifle through my older sisters’ possessions, especially their books (everyone needs a hobby, right?). Jane-Emily, by Patricia Clapp, boasted a lurid cover perfect for children with overactive imaginations. A young girl in a white nightgown stands by an eerily glowing orb, a creepy looking house (with a mansard-roofed tower, of course) looming in the background. Scary!

The Gothic novel Jane-Emily was first published in 1969.

This introduction to this particular garden ornament did not serve me well. As I recall, I spent several sleepless nights convinced that gazing balls were evil – well, they were evil and haunted in that book.

Gazing balls trace their lineage back to Venice in the 13th century, but gained a hold (not in a malevolent way) in gardens in America in the late 19th century.

Undated stereograph self-portrait in a garden gazing ball, Ridge Hill Farms, Baker Estate, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Image from the collection of Historic New England.

Gazing balls went by many names in the 19th century, including friendship balls, butler balls, spirit balls, witch balls, and spirit catchers. The ornaments were thought to bring good luck and prosperity, and to ward off evil spirits and witches. (Obviously Emily, the nasty little ghost in Jane-Emily, didn’t get the message.)

A Victorian gazing ball.

The gazing ball enjoyed a brief resurgence in the 1930s, and their popularity appears to be on the rise again now. Popular artist Jeff Koons may have secured his place in the annals of art history with his gazing ball series, begun in 2013.

All sorts of famous works are reproduced by Jeff Koons – with blue gazing balls added.

My appreciation for yard art has been growing over the last few years, and when I was in Frankfort, Kentucky the other week on a rare trip off of the farm, I stopped by Wilson’s Nursery. My primary purpose was securing more milkweed plants, but then – I spotted the most beautiful vision of blue glass.

Isn’t she lovely? (And not haunted.)

Using the excuse of my recent birthday…I quickly added the gazing ball to my cart. And now it adorns my garden. I’ve seen nothing reflected in the shimmering sphere save the trees and sky, and occasionally, a bored gray and white cat. But if it turns out to be possessed by a horrid little ghost, I’ll be sure to let everyone know.