The Sea Glass Shard of the Month: December 2013
An Amberina Sea Glass Shard From Puerto Rico
Sea Glass Specifications:
Color: Red to Orange-Amber
Length: 29.2 mm (1.15")
Width: 19.6 mm (0.77")
Weight: 2.9 grams (0.10 ounces)
This month we'll look at a fine example of amberina sea glass found on the beaches of Puerto Rico. This shard could be as old as the late 1880s and possibly came from discarded tableware.
Amberina is a two-tone glassware that gradually transitions from ruby red to amber. The red tone was originally created by adding gold chloride to amber glass before it cooled down, then reheating the areas where one desired to develop the ruby red color.
This small vase is an example of the type of decorative glassware that used amberina process.
Amberina was used primarily in tableware and decorative glassware.
The process of making amberina glassware was first patented in 1883 by the New England Glass Company of East Cambridge, MA. In the years that followed other companies used minerals such as cadmium sulphide or selenium, or flashed glass techniques, to attain the red color in this type of glassware.
The amberina process was used mostly in tableware and ornamental glassware and is still made today. While the term amberina is applied in general to all glassware that transitions from red to amber, purists insist that the only true amberina glassware was that made originally using gold.
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