How to Find Vaseline Glass

Vaseline glass is a highly collectible victorian to depression glass that glows brightly under UV light (black light). Most people are not familiar with it so it can be easy to find in the strangest places! Uranium salts (Uranium Dioxide), as found in their natural state, are a vivid yellow. So it's easy to understand why it has been added to glass as a yellow colourant since the early 19th century. There have been claims that its first use was as early as 79 AD following the discovery in 1912 of a glass mosaic in an excavation on a Roman Villa near Naples in Italy but this has never been proven. Some others consider that its first use was by Josef Riedel at his Bohemian glassworks in the 1830's. There is no doubt though, that in 1835 experiments with uranium as a glass colorant were being carried out by Whitefriars Glass Works in London and that in 1836, a pair of uranium glass candlesticks were presented to the Queen. Production of uranium glass in Britain ceased by the end of the second world war but a small amount is still being manufactured in the USA and Czechoslovakia.

Things You'll Need

• Handheld UV light.
• Time to search
• Space for you new stuff!

Show More

Instructions

1. • 1

     Familiarize yourself with the product. You can either internet search or get a book on Vaseline Glass. Such as this one : The Picture Book of Vaseline Glass
     By Sue G. Davis. This is 'the' reference guide for glass collectors and devotees of art glass patterns. A verbal and pictorial description of over 675 different pieces of vaseline glass, showing over 60 patterns, accompanied by the history of this unique craft, allows the reader - novice or expert - to learn more about this glass.

   • 2

     Some of my best finds have been thrift shops. They had no clue what it was, to them it was a slightly unattractive colored glass. The colors you will find will range from green to yellow, translucent to "milked". The only true way to tell is to hold a black light over it, thusly the need for the hand-held UV lamp.

   • 3

     I have found some good deals on Ebay for this glass, but watch the season. If it is a sellers market, just wait. Estate sales are a wonderful place to find this glass, the time era being right for it, and people not knowing what it is are likely to overlook it as just green glass!