c. 1880 Special Glass Target Ball filled with Colorfull strips of Paper Confettii-filled with her Lead Disk Sealed Top Stamped “A O” LEAD DISK for ANNIE OAKLEY, of her design, approximately 2 PROBLEM: ¾" in diameter, Choice virtually Mint New.
This rare Hand-Blown Glass Exhibition Target Ball, measures approximately 2 PROBLEM: ¾" in diameter, of the type used by traveling marksmen and sharpshooters in the golden age of glass-ball shooting exhibitions, in exceptional choice condition. This "Special" example is hand-packed internally with colorful strips of paper confetti, a rare and exotic filling variant produced to create a brilliant, eye-catching burst of color when the ball was shattered mid-air by a well-placed shot. A showman's flourish meant to thrill Wild West and vaudeville-circuit crowds far beyond the simple shower of glass shards produced by a common, unfilled ball. The fill-hole at the top of the ball is sealed with a lead disk, hand-stamped "A.O."

The initials "A.O." on this example's lead seal point directly to Annie Oakley (1860-1926), "Little Sure Shot" of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, whose exhibition shooting at glass balls was among the most celebrated acts of the era and was even captured on film by Thomas Edison in 1894. Period accounts and collector tradition hold that Oakley favored balls packed with colorful streamers and confetti rather than plain glass, a signature bit of showmanship distinct from the ordinary balls used by touring marksmen making a documented, initialed example of this kind an exceptional survival. Given the fragile and inherently disposable nature of glass target balls the vast majority were, by design, destroyed in use. An intact, filled, and maker/owner-marked example such as this represents a genuine prize for collectors of Wild West exhibition shooting memorabilia and Annie Oakley material alike. An exceptional example having choice eye appeal.
Glass target balls were invented in 1866 by Charles Portlock of Boston and quickly became the standard "inanimate" substitute for live-pigeon shooting matches, remaining the target of choice in exhibition and Wild West Show shooting from roughly 1875 into the early 1900s. Colorfully filled variants, examples are recorded with dyed feathers, confetti, and other materials meant to simulate or exaggerate the visual effect of a strike are today considered among the great rarities of the target-ball collecting field, with only a small handful of confetti-filled examples known to specialists and institutional collections.