#lead crystal

[campsis]

Andra Ursuţa  Impersonal Growth, 2020

Lead crystal

26 3/8 x 21 1/2 x 7 inches (67 x 54.6 x 17.8 cm)

[cirrus-grey]

I've discovered something cool.

Left: A 100+ year old medicine bottle that my parents dug up in their backyard when I was a kid. Their house is built where the old municipal dump was in the late 1800s, so there were lots of bottles like it buried in the dirt. Right: An ordinary wine glass from the 1990s. Both of these things have been sat on a shelf gathering dust for over a decade.

...Until recently, when I got my hands on a UV flashlight.

[Video description: The bottle and wine glass described above sit next to each other on a table, with the bottle on the left and glass on the right. They are lit from above by a normal incandescent bulb, though the bulb is out of shot. There is a plastic squeaking sound, and the light dims and turns off, leaving the screen dark. There is a click, and a UV flashlight turns on off screen, to the left. Under its light, the bottle glows yellow-green, and the wine glass glows blue. The light holds for a few seconds, then turns off with another click, leaving the screen dark until the video cuts out.]

They glow!!! (These two aren't the only ones either, just the ones with the brightest color.)

There are a lot of different things that can be mixed into glass to make it fluoresce under UV (including, perhaps most famously, uranium). After doing some research, I think I've pinned down these two.

The bottle has manganese, which was (ironically) used to remove the green tint from glass and make it colorless.

The wine glass has lead, which increases the reflectivity of glass to make it more sparkly (and can also leach off into your drink and give you lead poisoning. Whoops!)

As I'm sure you can tell I've been nerding out over this big time. I love when science is pretty :)

[viviseconds]

Installation view, David Zwirner: 30 Years, David Zwirner, Los Angeles, 2024 From left: Steven Shearer The Underground Exhibitor, 2024 Oil on canvas, artist’s frame 67 5/8 x 49 ½ in Andra Ursuţa Predators 'R Us, 2022 Lead crystal 29 x 27 x 52 inches Noah Davis Untitled, 2015 Oil on canvas 72 x 96 inches

[thejewellerybox]

Paste necklace, Georgian, 1820s

White and hot pink cushion-cut lead crystals with foil-backings. Built in silvered brass, with a 15k gold clasp. Probably English-made. ($4,650, Erie Basin)

[findlight]

Katharine Coleman, Storm In A Teacup IV, 2022

[antiquesfreaks]

How can I listen to episodes before the ones that are listed (to 175)? Are they removed from hosting? Do they exist somewhere? I’m asking because is there an episode about Crystal (being poisonous) or did Ken lie to me?

Hi there! You can listen to our full catalogue of episodes through our host site, Podbean. (Who also have their own podcatcher app!)

And our Danger! Lead Poisoning episode (including the dangers of lead crystal glassware) is right here.

[shiftythrifting]

Some things I found at America's thrift store!

1) Dopey vase/flower pot

2) Greek shirt that says "all I see is Greek" I think?

3) a glass bowl that really reminds me of the one holding the sticky candies in Coraline

[rumade]

New bedside water "bottle"

(Unwanted crystal decanter previously belonging to my parents)