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.