In 1838 the Choisy-le-Roi factory in France was producing uranium glass. In 1836, after a visit to Bohemia, a French society for encouraging industry offered prizes for imitations of Bohemian glass. His factory, Dolny Polubny in Bohemia, made these kinds of uranium glass from 1830 to 1848. Josef Reidel is usually credited with inventing uranium glass in 1830 under the names "Annagrun" for uranium yellowish- green glass, and "Annagelb" for uranium yellow glass, naming them after his wife Anna Maria. When added to a glass mixture with a very high lead content (over 70% lead oxide) it produces a deep red colour (not a practical commercial proposition, however). When added to glass, usually as an oxide, uranium produces colours varying from amber through all the shades of yellow, to bright apple green, depending on the glass mixture. Though, strong ultra violet light can be bad for the eyes). Uranium glass, the object will fluoresce beautifully (don't look at the light directly If you get an ultra-violet torch, sometimes called a "black light" from a stampĬollecting shop or a glass collectors' supplier, and shine it on Tests conducted by Jay Glickman (reported in his book "Yellow-Green Vaseline: A Guide to the Magic Glass) and separate tests by Frank Fenton, of Fenton Glass, have shown that the radiation levels from even large quantities of uranium glass at close quarters are no more harmful than those associated with television sets or microwave ovens. Two pounds of uranium oxide were typically added to around 184 pounds of other constitutents.
But the levels are not, so far as we all believe, in any way harmful. If you shine an ultra-violet light onto it, you will get a fluorescent green glow, like the picture above. If you apply a geiger-counter you will get a positive reading. The most striking thing about fluorescent or uranium glass is that it is radio-active. This area which had numerous glass-works in that period, is now split between The Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany.Ībove: The same Sowerby Bullrushes bowl (top picture) glowing under ultraviolet light But it was 50 years later that glassmakers in Bohemia, seeking new colours in a highly competitive market for glass, started to use uranium.īohemia became part of the Austrian Empire with the peace settlement of 1815, after the Napoleonic wars, and the glass trade prospered under peaceful conditions until the 1850's. In 1789 Martin Klaproth in Germany had first recognised uranium as a chemical element, and is said to have added it to glass as a colourant. Started to use uranium as a good way to make yellow and green glass. And I recognise that this definition includes some opaque glass as well as translucent and opalescent green and yellow glass.ĭuring the early 19th century glass makers in Central Europe
I have avoided the term "Vaseline Glass" because there are conflicting interpretations of what it means. In this article Fluorescent Glass and Uranium Glass are defined very simply as any kind of glass which has uranium in it. Uranium Glass information from the Virtual Glass Museum Uranium Glass Uranium, fluorescent and Vaseline GlassĪbove: Two green uranium glass vases by Sowerby of Gateshead, made in the 1930's
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