Mixed Sea Glass Stud Earrings

Historical Information

Object: Green Sea Glass & Rare Red Art Glass

Material / Body:

Green: naturally weathered soda-lime glass, Red: opaque/deep red art glass containing copper/ selenium colouring

Technique:

Sea glass: originally moulded or blown glass, Art glass: kiln-worked or furnace-blown decorative glass Date: Glass likely late 19th-mid 20th century

Likely Origin: Britain or Europe

Find Location: Thames Estuary, Essex

Extra Information:

The green translucent shard began life as a piece of everyday bottle or table glass before entering the Thames, where tides, sand, and silt softened it into sea glass over many years. By contrast, the two red pieces are art glass, coloured using expensive metal oxides-copper, gold chloride, or selenium-giving them the deep red tones rarely found in ordinary household wares. Red art glass was used for decorative objects, fine tableware, jewellery components, and small ornamental pieces from the late 19th century onwards. Once broken or discarded, both types of glass entered rubbish streams that flowed into the Thames estuary.

There they were shaped and smoothed by the tide before being recovered. Combined in these earrings, the pieces bring together the natural patina of sea glass and the rich colour of historic art, glass, preserving two different glassmaking traditions transformed by time and water.