Friendship ball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since September 2006. |
A friendship ball is a hollow sphere of plain or striated glass hung in cottage windows in 20th century North America as an act of friendship. Friendship balls started in central Europe as holiday decoration, and are commonly referred to as Kugels.
European Art glass balls for holiday decoration are still commonly referred to in Austria and Germany as Kugels. Kugels range in shape and styles, according to the artist that made them and the season they are displayed. It is quite common to display egg shaped kugels at Easter and Heart shapes at Valentines day. Quality kugels are hand blown or mouth blown art glass. Most are blown into an apple wood mold to retain shape and consistency. Some artists free blow their kugel designs, thus ending up in an irregular shape. Air bubbles are common, and expected by the collector.
In America these glass balls are marketed in many ways. Witch ball, spirit balls, spirit catchers, friendship balls, gazing ball, wishing balls, and so on. Each having a little bit of home grown folklore attached to make the item unique or extra special.
