Sail In An Egg Shell. 2025

These porcelain cast eggs are artworks based around superstitions within folklore.

There’s magical folklore associated with eggs, shells must be broken after boiling an egg or it’s bad luck. This goes hand-in-hand with the belief of some sea-faring people that if you don’t break an egg shell after cracking an egg a witch might steal the shell and use it as a boat. A witch with her egg-shell boat will sail it to the sea and summon powerful storms that will do significant damage and sink ships. Others folklore says that witches steal the egg shells to travel around and cause general mischief.

From Charles Leland Gypsy Sorcerer, published in 1891 there’s a story about a girl eating an egg, she was instructed to smash the egg after cracking it; "I don't see why the witches should not have boats as well as other people." And saying this she threw the shell of an egg which she had been eating as far as she could, and cried, "Witch, there is your boat!" But what was her amazement to see the shell caught up by the wind and whirled away on high till it became invisible, while a voice cried, "I thank you!"