What is this lavender shard of sea glass from?

by Sarah
(New Jersey, United States)

Brigantine, New Jersey, USA

Brigantine, New Jersey, USA

I recently found this piece of sea glass washed up on the shore of Brigantine, NJ!


It looks as if it was maybe apart of a perfume bottle and it has a light lavender tint to it.

I was wondering if it could have been part of something else, and how old it is.

Posted | August 2016

Comments for What is this lavender shard of sea glass from?

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Sep 05, 2016
 Lavender shard
by: Anonymous

Hello!

I have also recently found a large amount of lavender glass.

A few pieces had a partial address on them.

My lavender beach glass was found on a beach along the brackish Elizabeth river in Portsmouth, VA.

After doing some research of the address found on the shards, I learned they were from purple whiskey bottles made 1904-1908.

My lavender glass was from E Mahoney & Son. The address was 208 Water St. Norfolk, VA. They did have a distillery in Baltimore, but I don't know the history of the purple whiskey bottle or whether or not it was specific to one distillery.
Aug 28, 2016
 Manganese in glass
by: David

Since ancient times, manganese has been used in glassmaking mainly to remove all the color from glass.

It is still being used in modern times. Exposure of old or new glass containing magnesium to sunlight over a period of time will give it the purple or amethyst tinge.

There is no way to determine the age of the glass shown unless one were able to positively match it to a specific object from a given time period.

To say it is from the 1880s by just looking at it is a wild guess.
Aug 28, 2016
 Violet glass shard
by: Jenny

I was told by a woman on the Eastern Shore of Virginia this glass is from the 1880's containing manganese which gives it the purple color. She also mentioned leaving it out in the light would over time darken the color. For what it is worth.......

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