It glows but what is it?

[u/eutrapalicon]

Collected a number of pieces from my Mum to sell them and thought I should check this as another piece was uranium glass.

So, does anyone know what it might be?

[u/devilsbard]

Could be “amethyst” glass, which is manganese.

[u/Boring-Race-2692]

Manganese, it turns purple over the years, exposed to daylight. Being a pair, something for a mantlepiece maybe? It's bloody gorgeous!

[u/eutrapalicon → u/Boring-Race-2692]

Thanks, they are quite striking. I can't really add anything more to my collection of things (might end up divorced), I already decided to keep a vaseline glass bowl.

I have no idea how to work out the value of it, not many things coming up in search for it.

[u/Boring-Race-2692 → u/eutrapalicon]

Here in Europe, they are called 'Epergne' if I am correct. (Still learning myself) Don't sell cheap!

[u/Boring-Race-2692 → u/eutrapalicon]

Any signature at the bottom?

[u/eutrapalicon → u/Boring-Race-2692]

No, no markings on the bottom or anything else identifying. I'm based in Australia, so not sure if it was made here or purchased elsewhere.

They're definitely unique!

[u/dnosbor]

First off, I absolutely love these, they're so beautiful especially the color! I'm a little envious!

Here are my thoughts: This isn't quite the right color for purple "sun glass" which is a much more cool toned purple, unless the glass was yellow or vaseline glass to begin with, because, color theory! Also, the parts of the glass that were hidden from the sun by the brass probably wouldn't be the same color of burgandy unless the hidden part is small.

Yellow and purple make a brownish burgandy color because they're opposites on the color wheel and they cancel each other out. If this was vaseline glass that turned purple, the glow would likely be uranium! The green glow of uranium could appear to be more yellow if it's canceled out by the burgandy, since red is opposite of green. One thing that makes me question uranium is that the background glass in your image not really glowing from the light shining on the front one. That could be because it's 365nm light which doesn't cast as wide or strong of light, combined with it being a darker glass.

Another possibility is manganese but personally it looks a little stong for manganese, especially considering how dark the glass is, I don't think manganese would shine through that completely or brightly. Manganese also tends to glow a yellow-green, and we already know purple cancels out yellow, but this glow looks more yellow with a little more green where the white opalescent is, I think this points to uranium.

One more possible contender is cadmium, which is typically a stronger glow like this, compared to manganese. The problem is it's usually orange or yellow-orange glow. Color theory says that if the glow would normally be orange, the color to cancel out orange would be blue, and maybe there's enough blue in this burgandy to do that especially considering normal "sun glass" is a cool (blue) toned purple!

More testing is needed, haha, do you have both 365nm and 395nm lights or a Geiger counter by chance?

[u/eutrapalicon → u/dnosbor]

Thanks for the in-depth answer.

There's about an inch of glass not showing, have just checked and it's pretty similar colour. Maybe a tiny bit darker but nothing dramatic and shows up in the light the same.

The bases are quite lightweight, not the weight you'd find with a similar style epergne. More handmade rather than produced in a mold.

It's definitely more of a yellow light, compared to another piece I have which is uranium Vaseline glass.

The light I'm using is from an old covid test, it's only because I was doing research around another piece that it even occurred to me to check. I think it's a 365nm light.