intriguing !

Useful or not, these things are interesting and beautiful and you captured them well, the lighing is great!

Hehe! I had a flash across my mind of the day one of my lurchers discovered the window cleaner had come without any underpants on and bit him in where it most hurts. Anyway, moving on....a superb photo!

Great capture but I think AC/DC said it best: "I've got big balls Oh I've got big balls And they're such big balls Dirty big balls And he's got big balls And she's got big balls (But we've got the biggest balls of them all)" thanks for sharing your ballz with us!

What a beautiful shot of these cute little balls. Much more cute, than any ball I havde seen. ;-P Hope you will feel better VERY soon, my friend.

No purpose? They provided the inspiration for this work of photographic art, didn't they? The ability to see beauty in little things like this is a precious gift...

Nice capture. They are indeed interesting shapes.

Amazing capture Tara. God bless.

Gorgeous variety of shapes... love the patina. I remember when these were very popular. Your shot has especially pretty ones.

These balls must feel wonderful in the hand !!

Well, they certainly make a nice photo. :) I guess if they're heavy enough, you could use them for attention getters (but your aim must be accurate). :)

Excellent lighting and atmosphere

Someday.... someday.... when our new home expenses level off a bit, I am going to get this 70D so I can at least try to capture images like this. Excellent!

My mind went in another direction for a moment, but then zoomed back when I got a good look at this image and I thought: what if these actually were useful? I mean, they're apparently metallic, and if you throw 'em right (and have good aim) then...well...instant long-distance-forehead whacker! And they're pretty enough to actually be Medieval long distance forehead whackers, which is the distant cousin to the yo-yo, which was originally a bird-killing weapon on some island, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway...enough rambling! Look at those shapes and colors! These almost make me think of seeds of some exotic type. How marvelous! And I love the mood this has, and the light/color balance is wonderful!

A few days ago Denise made reference to the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, so maybe? Or they could be for use by people too cheap to put fruit in the fruit bowl. In any case, they have a nice vintage look and your capture of them is excellent.

I like them too, what great patina and texture! Maybe they were made for eunuchs who want to fill an empty space in their lives? Wonderful shot!!

Hehehe! at my love. I can't discern the physical size of these, so my first suspicion was decorative door knobs. But as you used the term knick-knacky which is usually used to describe mall objects, that theory is unfounded. Unless of course they are cupboard door knobs. The thing I am finding so amusing here is that I unabashedly use the word knob, and then Dee mentions eunuchs and of course there is Andrea's comment that is in the same anatomical area. All this frivolity aside, I think it is a marvellous capture sweetie. The lighting is exquisite.

Well, when I saw the title, I wasn't quite sure what you were shooting close-ups of,,,,,, But this is classic Tara - finding something very cool, and making art out of it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again..... Nothing wrong with your eyes, my friend! This is delightful!

No mystery with these. They are simple decorative balls. The decorative ball was first created in China around the 6th or 7th Century, called Temari. They were hand embroidered at first, and still are in that particular form of the art, but the folk art-form of decorative balls grew over the centuries and really took off during the Victorian era. The collecting of these, and creation, is still a a strong form of art today and can be found for sale in many places, ebay being one. The search pattern to find them is either Temari or decorative balls.

.....He's Got Big Balls, We've got Big Balls, They'.... lol You know that one Tara? Great shot, wonderful details and colours. Rob