Glass Fishing Float, Authentic, Large, Approximately 11" Round

Large green glass fishing float, approximately 11" round, with rope netting.

Vintage glass fishing floats are hollow glass shapes that fishermen used to attach to their lines or their nets to hold a net up toward the surface of the water. The earliest floats, including most Japanese glass fishing floats, were handmade by a glassblower. Recycled glass, especially old sake bottles in Japan, was typically used and air bubbles/imperfections in the glass are a result of the rapid recycling process. A later manufacturing method used wooden molds to speed up the float-making process. Glass floats were blown into a mold to more easily achieve a uniform size and shape. Seams on the outside of floats are a result of this process. Glass floats were surrounded by a protective netting of rope or string.