Brewer's: Globe of Glass

(Reynard's). To consult Reynard's globe of glass. To seek into futurity by magical or other devices. This globe of glass would reveal what was being done, no matter how far off, and would afford information on any subject that the person consulting it wished to know. The globe was set in a wooden frame which no worm would attack. Reynard said he had sent this invaluable treasure to her majesty the queen as a present; but it never came to hand, inasmuch as it had no existence except in the imagination of the fox. (H. von Alkmar: Reynard the Fox.)

Your gift was like the globe of glass of Master Reynard. Vox et præterea nihil.
A great promise, but no performance. (See above.)

Worthy to be set in the frame of Reynard's globe of glass.
Worthy of being imperishable; worthy of being preserved for ever.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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