Keith Glein

Cranberry Float with Swirls 2 1/2 Inch

This float is a very nice example of a Cranberry float.

It's has the classic all over cranberry color. In addition, it also has faint cranberry swirls that emanate from the base and spiral throughout the the entire float.

This is an authentic working float that was probably used to catch octopus on the coast of Japan.

The float has tons tiny bubbles in the glass that only adds to it's collectibility.

Spindle with Blue Swirls, 3 1/4 Inch

Thick free standing Spindle inside a float with lots of blue swirls.

The seal on this float is also quite blue.

It's likely that this float could have been made by Yogi Asahara in the early 1990's.

Double Bubble, Green, 4 1/4 Inch

This Double Ball float has an inner ball that's just over an inch across.

It's an unusual deep green color with fine amber swirls throughout to give a slightly brownish cast.

From Japan.

Blue Dot, WP #56, 2 1/2 Inch

Blue-green float with a cobalt blue seal button featuring the trademark WP #56. This mark is clear and well-embossed.

The float measures 2 1/2 inches including the net.

This float is an authentic glass fishing float that was found on Hokkaido Island in northern Japan.

Three Crossed Fish, 5 Inch

Three Crossed Fish mark on a 5 inch Euro float.

For more information, go to Tom Rizzo's blog 'The Sea Hermit' and link to the article dated 1/7/09 that's titled 'Three Crossed Fish Mark'.

https://seahermit.blogspot.com/2009/01/three-crossed-fish-mark.html

Here's an excerpt:

"The last one opened was the Three Crossed Fish.

Looking at it, I could not help but admire the beautiful workmanship of the embossing. The engraver who designed the stamp was a true artist. The heads of the fish are cleanly lined, with well-defined and indented eyes, mouth and raised gill plates. The bodies have depth. They are not "flat fish," and beautifully overlap one another, with scales leading to sharp and separated tailfins. Each side of the tail has four segments, defined by fin lines.

The seal has a very nice rim around the fish, and the person who pressed the seal tool into the gather of molten glass was careful, and centered the mark perfectly.

The float was blown into a 2-part mold, the glass slightly amber/green with a good thickness and heft, and just a couple of wear marks. There are a few nice bubbles in the glass. The float rests perfectly by holding its seal up. The color of the glass, leads me to believe that this is a German-made float.

During the next three years, I saw a number of Three Crossed Fish floats offered for sale on Ebay auctions, on Ken and Cindy Busses' Gems of the Ocean Website, and both Vebjorn Fidsdal and Per Einar Gunnarsen offered a few they had found in Norway. I think all of them were top of the float embossing, except for one very interesting example that is for sale on Ken and Cindy's site.

Recently, Bob Buffington brought up the subject of the two different markings. He wondered if the raised seal mark was the older of the two? Having only seen the body embossed marking in photos, it was hard to know how to answer his query. All I could talk about was the quality of the marking on my float, and how the body embossed marking that I had only seen in photos, did not seem as well defined. Then in December, my friend once again offered me the chance to purchase one of the type not in my collection.

I jumped at the chance, and a couple of weeks later it arrived. I can finally come to a conclusion or two about the differences and the similarities of the floats.

This new one is also blown into a two-part mold with a separate seal button. The color, heft and thickness of the glass look and feel the same to my hands. And once again, I feel that the color and look of the glass are German. The markings are very different."

I find that the new float's three fish are smaller in length. The heads and bodies are raised and fairly well-defined. There are the impressions of scales on the top fish's body, but the tails are simpler, much less artistically carved, without the sharp delineation between the segments and halves of each tail. The fish heads do not stand out as cleanly, the mouths and gill plates are hardly evident. My impression is that this mark does not exhibit the artistic ability of the engraver of the seal marked tool.

Double Groove, Euro, 5 Inch

Beautiful amber brown Double Groove Euro float.

This bi-mold float measures about 5 inches in diameter.

Excellent provenance coming from ex-John Herrera collection.

Blue Dot, Cranberry, WP #2, Kita 北, FF, 14 Inch

This specially made Japanese contemporary 14 inch float has many exaggerated features:

1) There's a huge Blue Seal that's 5 3/4 inches across at its widest point.

2) It's a beautiful Cranberry or light Burgundy color.

3) There's an extra large ID seal that is stamped with the classic Kita 北 or 'FF' maker's mark. The ID seal is 3 inches wide.

4) It's a large float that measures 45 inches in circumference or about 14 1/4 inches in diameter.

I've been told that this float was made in the 1960's as a presentation float for tourist of that era.

I know of only two other floats that are the same as this one. I think these floats are quite rare.

It comes with excellent provenance having come from the ex-Jim Watson collection.

Large Brown Egg, M Mark

This Large Brown Egg or Kveitekulas float comes from northern Norway.

It has an 'M' lightly embossed on the front-center of the float. The 'M' is symetrical and shows all points of the mark.

This large brown egg was most likely used to fish for halibut many years ago.

It measures 6 1/4 inches tall and about 5 inches in diameter.

For more information, go to Tom Rizzo's blog 'The Sea Hermit' and link to the article titled "KVEITEKULAS - Halibut Egg Floats":

https://seahermit.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-mid-2000-per-einar-returned-from.html

Here's an except ...

The Raven wrote: "The coastline of Norway, or length from south to north is about 2000 kilometers. All the big eggs are found between Bronnoysund and Trondheim. Located in the middle of Norway (a coastline of say about 300 kilometers) is the Namsos area with its historical 6 glassverks, about 1/3 of the distance from Trondheim area. The only glasswork north that made darker glass floats was Bjorum - marked B with the dott. I have one dark brown and amber from there, but the production list from 1880's doesn't say anything about Kveitekula. So the production place of these floats is still in the dark. Schimmelmann is far south, in fact not more than 40 minutes with car from where I live. The location is wrong but the color is right. You know in 1830's they shipped with boats. That I know. So Schimmelmann Glasverk could have easily sent them north by boat for the halibut-fishermen. That would be poor speculation, but still a valid point for the blog. It is in fact easier to exclude which glassverk it can't be."