Glowing Glass
We are keen collectors of glowing glass and we always try to stock a large selection of UV reactive glass at Barnes & Bridge.
We have a great array of UV reactive glass including Uranium glass / Vaseline glass, Manganese glass, Selenium glass and Cadmium glass.
From Victorian Vaseline glass candlesticks to Mid Century Uranium Murano glass, we even have Uranium and Selenium jewellery.
It's not an easy task finding all these glowing treasures and it takes time and patience to find them but it's what we love and it's what we do.
Much of this is available to purchase in the shop or via our Etsy Shop.
Different Types of Glowing Glass
Uranium/Vaseline Glass - is the term used to describe any glass that glows green under UV light.
First identified in 1789 by a German chemist it was discovered that if Uranium, usually in Oxide Diuranate form was added to a glass mix before melting this would result in a beautiful green colour.
Due to it's glowing properties under UV light Uranium/Vaseline glass is highly collectible today.
Uranium can be found in green glass, yellow glass and even white and blue glass although green is the most common.
Manganese Glass - glows under UV light although not green as Uranium glass does.
Manganese is one of the oldest glass additives and was used in small quantities to de-colourise (remove the green tint from glass to make clear) and in higher quantities to colorize glass. This method dates as far back as Ancient Egypt.
Manganese produces glass in a range of colours including red, orange, yellow and violet although the latter is less common.
Glass that contains manganese glows red, orange, or peach and even green under a UV black light.
Selenium Glass - The process of de-colourisation and colourising glass was greatly used and Selenium was another mineral that was also used in order to achieve vibrant colours.
Selenium was responsible for making glass pink and red and when used together with Cadmium Sulphide an even more brilliant red was created known as Selenium Ruby.
Selenium can be found in pink, red and ruby coloured glass and glows and some but not all glow and intense pink under UV light.
Cadmium Glass - Cadmium together with Cadmium Sulfide results in deep yellow colour, often used in glazes.
However, when used in glass making techniques together with selenium and sulphur it yields shades of yellow, bright red and orange.
Amberina glass contains Cadmium and the glow under a UV black light is like that of a sunset yellow/orange with variations from a citron yellow to a dark red
