Seaglass colours and origins
Recently I have been researching the origins of the seaglass I use in Porth jewellery.
As luck would have it, I got speaking to a new customer in her shop who was a wealth of knowledge about old glass bottles. I hope you find this interesting and informative, giving you a story to your seaglass finds!
Marmalade Antiques is situated at the bottom of the old High Street in Falmouth.
This is just part of their glass bottle collection which also includes old glass fishing buoys.
Blue’s
Blue glass is always a treasured find as it is less common. It was used almost exclusively to package medicinal products that were poisonous! Anything in a blue bottle was not to be drunk and was also textured to help distinguish them and avoid accidental swallowing in the dark. More commonly this texture has straight ridges down the bottle but there were also a series of spots or raised diamonds.
Seaglass, by its nature of being tumbled in the ocean, is usually smooth but occasionally a piece will turn up that’s still got some ridges or text still visible.
Cobalt blue
Other Cobalt Blue origins are Optrex eye baths and Vick’s Rub! Before plastic was widely used, eye baths were made from cobalt blue glass.
cornflower blue
Cornflower Blue bottles were often filled with Milk of Magnesia.
Bovril bottles have a wide range of glass from amber through to dark brown. The majority of brown glass comes from old beer bottles and cleaning bottles. The light can also appear to change the colour (as seen in the first ring).
White (opaque)
White glass, also known as Milk glass, is also seldom found, maybe because it is confused with small pebbles or plastic due to the opaque nature. It was used for a range of cosmetic and toiletry items that would be effected by sunlight. These can date from between the 1870’s and the 1920’s. Milk glass was also used to package tooth powder (the original tooth paste) and hair cream up until the mid 20th Century.
Clear (white)
Clear glass was mass produced for use as bottles and containers. Depending on the length of time in the sea and the environment, some of these pieces can appear frosted white – a great colour for wedding jewellery or for those who prefer neutral tones.
Thank you to Marmalade Antiques for all the interesting information.
Some of the jewellery featured can be purchased by following the links on the images (some are bespoke pieces and are therefore not available).
Caroline
I have some pieces of seaglass I found and would love to have earrings made. Is this a service you offer,?
admin
Hi Caroline, yes I do! I will email you so that we can chat about it.
Laura