Topic: Does anyone know what this is? Uranium glass find.

[readitnot]

I found this vase at a local thrift store. To me, the color indicates it's Vaseline glass. However, I'm no expert. I literally just got into collecting uranium glass. This piece is super heavy. The rim is a half inch thick and the base is 1" thick. Does anybody know roughly how old this is? Value?

[Lustrousstone]

Welcome to the board. The colour is far too dark to be called vaseline, though it is uranium glass. I don't recognise your vase but a base shot and dimensions would be useful. In fact they are essential for glass ID. And we don't provide valuations; they are far too subjective

[readitnot]

Here are the measurements of the top and bottom. There are no markings anywhere showing a manufacturer. Is this pretty common with uranium glass? 8 7/8" tall. Base 3 3/4". Top 5 11/16".
Just for fun, I included a counts per minute shot of the radiation.

[Lustrousstone]

Infinitely more glass is unmarked than is marked. I think that your vase is pressed rather than blown as it doesn't appear to have had a pontil mark. I think I would be looking for a US maker from the colour

[Ekimp]

Hi and welcome. Thanks for showing the CPM, out of interest what’s the background reading?

I think that your vase is pressed rather than blown as it doesn't appear to have had a pontil mark.

It looks to me as though it has a large shallow polished pontil scar?

[readitnot]

Thank you for the replies. I'll have to keep looking. There are a few bubbles inside the glass toward the bottom. One small, and two tiny ones. From what I read, uneven bubbles can be a sign of blown glass, vs even distribution is more likely pressed. For what thats worth...


Background reading here is around 40-60 CPM. I should just leave my meter on all day while at work to get a better reading. I've only sampled background for a few minutes at a time.

[Ekimp]

That definitely looks like a polished pontil. I see there is quite a bit of wear too, so it wasn’t made yesterday. Is the spiral up the sides from a series of long trapped air bubbles or is it a form of optic ribbing (where the thickness of the sides is varied), it’s hard to see?

The uranium makes quite a difference!

[Lustrousstone]

That's a very narrow and what appears to be a quite deep base rim for a polished pontil mark, so I'm still thinking pressed. Bubbles are pretty random in blown and pressed glass

[readitnot]

That definitely looks like a polished pontil. I see there is quite a bit of wear too, so it wasn’t made yesterday. Is the spiral up the sides from a series of long trapped air bubbles or is it a form of optic ribbing (where the thickness of the sides is varied), it’s hard to see?

The uranium makes quite a difference!

The thickness of the sides varies. The outside is smooth, and the inside surface is what changes in thickness to form the spiral.

[glassobsessed]

Your photos of the base are from directly above, can we have another please from an angle, say 45° instead of the 90°. Hopefully this will show a little more detail and we can agree on the way it was made.

Lovely looking vase...

John