Yard globe

Sometime later the gardens, based on Versailles, were open to the public and visitors may have seen the lawn balls, but the Victorian period was quickly coming to an end.

Their popularity was probably influenced by the illuminated glass globe which was the central focal point of the modernist garden shown at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris, in 1925.

The gazing ball suited the geometric clean lines of the Art Deco style especially the visual connection with the chrome plating which was part of the Streamline-moderne aesthetic of the 1930s and 1940s – so much so in fact that they became identified in many people's minds as an invention of the 1930s.

Subsequently, many people in the 1950s and afterwards viewed them as a bit tacky; an example of prosaic suburban taste of the interwar period on a level with garden gnomes – they have never quite regained status.

Since the early 21st century, the American artist Jeff Koons has frequently incorporated gazing balls in his artworks.