Glass boats like this are known as friggers, or end-of-days. This sort of whimsical, funny object was made by glassmakers at the end of the working day with any molten glass left in their pot. These objects were often brought home for the glassmaker’s family. Other examples of friggers are glass boots, hats, pipes, walking sticks and even pretend pistols.
Here the glassmaker has used molten glass in its most fluid yet plastic state to build up the ship as a structure. As the glass has cooled the structure becomes fixed and solid – albeit delicately so. The sails and flags on this boat are particularly fluid and delicate.