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Pearl in Waves
This crystal ball was believed to be the world’s largest when it arrived at the MFA in 1893. It was mined in Yamanashi, Japan, and polished by expert craftsmen in Miyamoto village. Nineteenth-century spiritualism brought an interest in divination to Boston, and in the 1880s the Parisian art dealer Tadamasa Hayashi was tasked with acquiring an outstanding crystal ball for New England capitalist Frederick Lathrop Ames’s gem and crystal collection. Later, the MFA commissioned Japan’s most celebrated metalsmith, Suzuki Chokichi, to create the dynamic sculptural base. As crystal balls were associated with dragons chasing light from the depths of the sea, the base features a surging ocean wave and the twisting body of a dragon. As you look into the ball you will see the world turned upside-down. By gazing into the clear crystal orb, readers searched for guidance into the unknown future.
Crystal sphere (now with silver stand 03.1880)
Pearl in Waves
Japanese
Meiji era
1884
Medium/Technique
Rock crystal (quartz)
Dimensions
Overall: 18.4 cm (7 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Frederick L. Ames in the name of Frederick L. Ames
Accession Number93.1476
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsSculpture
This crystal ball was believed to be the world’s largest when it arrived at the MFA in 1893. It was mined in Yamanashi, Japan, and polished by expert craftsmen in Miyamoto village. Nineteenth-century spiritualism brought an interest in divination to Boston, and in the 1880s the Parisian art dealer Tadamasa Hayashi was tasked with acquiring an outstanding crystal ball for New England capitalist Frederick Lathrop Ames’s gem and crystal collection. Later, the MFA commissioned Japan’s most celebrated metalsmith, Suzuki Chokichi, to create the dynamic sculptural base. As crystal balls were associated with dragons chasing light from the depths of the sea, the base features a surging ocean wave and the twisting body of a dragon. As you look into the ball you will see the world turned upside-down. By gazing into the clear crystal orb, readers searched for guidance into the unknown future.
Provenance1876, natural quartz discovered at Ontake Mountain, Kai, Japan; Between March and December, 1881, bought by Naito Arimori from Naito Tsukuba at the Second Tokyo Exposition; December, 1881-June, 1884, cut and formed into a sphere under the supervision of Naito Arimori and Naito Tsukuba at the village of Miyamoto; January, 1887, bought by Hasegawa Rokusaburo; December, 1890, bought by Sasaki Mosaburo; December, 1892, sold by Sasaki to Murata Kinbei, by Kinbei to Tomita Shin'ei and by Tomita to Tadamasa Hayashi, agent for William Baumgarten & Co., New York; January 30, 1893, received by Frederick Lothrop Ames from William Baumgarten; December 12, 1893, gift of Mrs. Frederick L. Ames to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Accession Date: December 12, 1893)