Victorian-era handblown hollow glass balls for trap-shooting, eventually replaced by the “Clay Pigeon”
Glass target balls were produced in the United States from circa 1877 to approximately 1900. They were superseded by the “clay pigeon”. Target balls are sometimes misidentified as old Christmas ornaments or glass fishing net floats.
(Another type of antique blown glass ball is the lightning rod ball that was used as decoration on lightning rods. Lightning rod balls are often found on the roofs of farmhouses and barns throughout the Midwest that date from the late 1800s and early 1900s).
The typical target ball measures about 2.5 inches in diameter. Target balls are increasingly difficult to find. Sometimes they were saved from destruction and used later as Christmas ornaments.
Target balls are occasionally found, or end up in the possession of collectors who have no idea what they are. On a rare occasion, an example might show up at a flea market or antique shop.
Target balls usually have a circular rough-edged “lip” or “neck” extending outward where the ball was “cracked off” from the glassblower’s blowpipe.
They are found in a wide array of colors, including ambers, blues, purple, various shades of green, aquamarine and other colors. Some are “quilted” with an embossed “cross-hatch” or “waffle” design, and others may be smooth with no raised design on the surface. A few have markings, for instance, lettering that promotes a sporting–goods supply company, or, in a very few instances, the name of a glass manufacturing company.
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Target ball collectors website, with lots of info and many photos: GlassTargetBalls.com
Another target ball site, with lots of photos and info: Targetballs.com.
Here is an auction catalog showing a large number of target balls and related shooting “go-with” collectibles, from the collection of Ralph Finch. This auction occurred in the 2017-2019 time period and the catalog serves as a valuable archive to a great collection of very rare and seldom-seen items: American Glass Gallery Auction
For an alphabetical list of glass manufacturer markings and logos found on glass bottles and other types of glassware, please click on the link here, which points to the Glass Bottle Marks pages (Page One).
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