According to Venetia Newall and other anthropologists and historians, the egg is one of the oldest and most powerful talismanic objects.  There are no cultures which don’t include eggs in their mythologies, rituals and beliefs.

Many of these cultures create decorated eggs for various reasons, whether magical or, more commonly in modern times, decorative.  On the following pages I have photos from decorated eggs of the world–or at least a few of those parts of it I’ve had a chance to visit.

       Glass Eggs: small Chinese jewels created by an ancient decorative reverse glass painting

            technique

        Ceramic Eggs: less common, but attractive

       Metal Eggs:  less common, but I do have one example from Turkey, and the Chinese do created

            eggs from cloisonné (enameled metal)

        Stone Eggs:  very common, usually being made from semiprecious minerals, but sometimes from

            plain carved stones

        Lacquer Eggs:  lacquer is a common Asian decorative process, and is used to create lovely eggs

            in some cultures

        Wooden Eggs:  also very common, most often they are painted

You can click through directly to the pages, or go to the Gallery of albums and peruse them there.