Keith Glein
Uncommon maker's mark WP #225 'Maru Ni' に or Pi in a Circle on a light green float.
This float measures 4 1/4 inches in diameter.
Tons of bubbles, heavy for size, and swirling on the surface of the glass suggest that this may be an older float.
Lightly stamped WP #235 'Batsu' on a 6 inch float.
Found in Northern Japan.
This float has excellent provenance having come from the ex-Ramon Fulton collection.
Authentic Japanese glass fishing float with maker's mark WP #173 'Betsu' 別.
This float is in a desirable 6 inch size.
There's also lots of bubbles and swirling in glass.
Found in Northern Japan.
This float has excellent provenance having come from the ex-Ramon Fulton collection.
Float with a hair thin, very fine Spindle. The spindle is free standing from top to bottom.
This float measures 4 1/4 inches in diameter.
It was found in northern Japan on Hokkaido Island.
Sisal net on a float with the maker's mark WP #204 'Ne Ga Na' ネ ガ ナ.
The old sisal net is in pretty good shape, it even has a something like a pigtail.
This float is 4 1/4 inches in diameter.
Found on Hokkaido Island, Japan.
Sisal net on a 4 1/4 inch float stamped with WP #6 'Maru Sen' 仙, commonly known as TY.
This float was found in northern Japan on Hokkaido Island.
Old sisal netted float with WP #24 'Shi' シ, commonly known as Smiley Face.
The sisal net looks like it still has quite a bit of tar residue embedded in it. There's also some tar speckles on the glass. The net is very fragile and crumbles easily.
This float measures 4 1/4 in diameter (without net).
Found on Hokkaido Island, Japan.
Pre-WWII float with maker's mark WP #30 'Kita 北 Shi シ', which means "North Four". This corresponds the four Kurile Islands of: Kunashiri, Etorofu, Habomai, and Shikotan.
This float measures 8 1/4 inches in diameter.
Additional information from a well-respected collector: "At the time of writing his first book, Walt had only seen that mark on 8 inch floats. It may be that 8 inch floats were all that were used in the area he was in when he found the mark. I have had the pleasure to own 2 floats with this mark. One was 9.5 inches and the other was 10.5 inches. Here is my 10.5 inch Kita Shi. I wish I had kept the 9.5 inch float but it was traded years ago. These two were the only two I've seen for sale in my years of collecting."
Faint spiraling blue swirls on a 3 1/4 inch float.
Stamped with WP #81 '2'.
Mostly frosted with net patterns.
Beachcombed along the coast of the Aleutians in Alaska.
Dark Cobalt Blue Seal button that's on a 3 1/4 inch float. This float has faint blue swirls throughout.
There is also a partial stamp that could be maker's mark WP #81 '2'.
Marked blue dot with blue swirls in an unusual 3 inch size (for blue dots) ... one-of-a-kind?
Beachcombed by Paul Umlauf on a Gulf of Alaska beach.
This is the 'thin' version of the classic Kita 北 or FF mark. It's the middle thickness; in between the bold stamp and 'pencil' thin older style.
This float is slightly out-of-round and measures 3 1/4 inches in diameter.
Beachcombed on a remote Aleutian black sand beach on the Bering Sea.
