Float

The floats are rectangular, cylindrical, conical or spherical shaped pieces of fishing net gear used to keep the upper edges of the net on the water surface. Combined with weights, they ensure that the net is properly positioned in the water, which is critical to successful fishing. Certain floats also serve as markers that pinpoint the position of the net around the fishery. The marker can be, for example, a long pole with a float in the middle and a flag, usually red, on top. In the past, it was common for fishermen to make floats themselves, for their own use. They used various kinds of easily accessible materials, such as wood, reeds and tree bark. Nowadays, floats are manufactured from hard-wearing and water-resistant plastics. In the collection of the Pomeranian Ethnography Department of the National Museum in Szczecin, the floats total more than forty inventory items. The featured object is a work of manufacture made of dark green glass, and has a spherical form wrapped in close-meshed cotton netting. No information is known about the factory where it was made. Agnieszka Słowińska