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- Written by Dr. Lori Verderame Dr. Lori Verderame
Many antique lovers ask me about glass of all types: Murano, Depression, EAPG, American Brilliant, Pyrex, and the list goes on. One of the most popular and exciting glass types for collectors is uranium glass. I like to call it “the green glass that glows.”
Uranium glass is a type of glass that has uranium, typically in oxide diuranate form, added to the glass mixture before it is heated. This produces a special color.
This glass is translucent, sometimes viewed as a custard or opaque appearance. Some of this glass is called Vaseline, jadeite, or canary glass.
Uranium dioxide has been used to make glass for centuries; pieces have been discovered dating back to 79 AD. Art glass makers and manufacturers of glass used small amounts of uranium to create glass of a yellowish-green color.
Uranium glass was produced during the 19th and early 20th centuries; it grew in popularity in the 1830s and experienced a collectors’ boom in the late 19th century.
This type of glass was produced until 1958, when the U.S. government stopped production. Uranium, at the time, was a regulated substance.
From circa 1943 until 1958, because of the events of World War II and the Cold War, U.S. officials did not allow the production of uranium glass because the government had banned uranium salts from commercial use.
Only after uranium oxide was deregulated did the U.S. government allow uranium glass to be manufactured.
There is an old saying in the antiques world: “It must glow green to be Vaseline.” Uranium glass fluoresces or glows in the dark because of the presence of uranium in the glass mixture. There are various uranium glass types that will fluoresce under black or UV light.
Collectors collect uranium glass actively from some of the best-known manufacturers, such as L.G. Wright, Buckeye Glass Company, Mosser Glass, Gibson, Adams & Company, Boston & Sandwich Glass, Fenton, O’Hara Glass Company, and several others.
Pairpoint Manufacturing Company made Canaria Vaseline glass for a few years only in the 1920s, and Baccarat is known for making cristal dichroide in the 1840s.
When it comes to identifying uranium glass, look for glass with a translucent and oily surface look.
Safety questions arise when it comes to understanding uranium glass and collecting it. Uranium glass has a small number of radioactive elements.
In a 2001 report, uranium glass was deemed safe by the U.S. Nuclear Regulation Commission. These pieces of glassware have a very small amount of radioactivity, but the glowing color of uranium glass is not caused by radiation.
Uranium glass is safe to store, display, and collect.
A Ph.D. antiques appraiser, author, and award-winning media personality, Dr. Lori presents antique appraisal events nationwide and appears on Netflix’s King of Collectibles and History channel’s The Curse of Oak Island and Pawn Stars Do America. Visit drloriv.com, watch videos on youtube.com/drloriv, or call (888) 431-1010.
