Ancient Mariner: The Egyptian Glass Sea Turtle Ornament

Few creatures on Earth carry their home — and their history — quite so elegantly as the sea turtle, and this magnificent hand-blown Egyptian glass specimen does the species full justice. The carapace is a marvel of the glassblower's art: deep forest green and near-black glass bubbles are layered and shaped into a richly textured scute pattern that captures the ancient, armored beauty of a real turtle shell with extraordinary fidelity. Four broad flippers and a charmingly rotund head in soft, milky seafoam green extend from beneath that magnificent shell, giving this little traveler a look of serene, unhurried purpose — as if it has all the time in the world, which, evolutionarily speaking, it rather does. A warm-toned Asfour crystal eye gazes out with the unflappable calm of a creature that has been crossing oceans for 110 million years.

Sea turtles hold a place of deep reverence in cultures around the world — in many Indigenous traditions, the turtle carries the entire world on its back, and in Hindu cosmology the god Vishnu took the form of a great turtle to support the mountain used to churn the cosmic ocean. Ancient Egyptians knew sea turtles from the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, and turtle imagery appears in Egyptian artifacts stretching back thousands of years. Today, sea turtles are beloved symbols of longevity, wisdom, and patient endurance — all qualities one might aspire to bring into a new year.

• Hand-blown Egyptian ornament crafted from German Pyrex glass
• Measures approximately 3.25" wide × 2.75" long × 1.25" deep (8.3 cm × 7 cm × 3.2 cm)
• Deep forest green and black textured shell with sculpted scute detail; soft seafoam green head and flippers
• Eye set with a genuine warm-toned Asfour crystal
• Includes gold metallic hanging cord; a wonderful gift for ocean lovers, conservationists, and collectors of fine art glass