Amulet to ward against the evil eye

Amulet against evil eye, in form of oval piece of brown and white banded agate resembling eye, carried by fisherman, Lovett collection, from Devon, English, 1901-1911

Brown and white ringed agate resembles an eye and was carried by fishermen in Devon, England, to protect from the ‘evil eye’. The evil eye has been a widespread belief that some people can cause harm to others simply by looking at them in a certain way. This ‘look’ may be given deliberately, in an attempt to cause harm, or accidentally, perhaps because of feelings of envy . The harm may take the form of bad luck, illness or death.

The amulet was a gift to the Wellcome collection from Edward Lovett (1852-1933), a collector of British amulets and charms. The amulet is shown here with two others worn to protect against the evil eye (A665895 and A666110).