Recent Red Seaglass and Pottery Finds

 

 Red is one of the rarest and most valuable of colours to find in genuine seaglass. Every seaglass beachcomber hopes to come across a piece or two. This is the first specimen I have ever been lucky enough to discover. It's small, but it's complete and I love it!

When I spotted it among the shingle on a Dublin beach, at first I thought it was a sweet! It is the right size and shape and of course the bright colour does look as tempting as candy. No wonder I mistook it for a sugary treat, but that was partly because I couldn't believe my luck. Thankfully I didn't discard it!

Once I got it cleaned up in soapy water I knew for sure it is a seaglass bead. It might be one of those bright beads used on fishing lines to attract fish. There was a piece of old, rotted and rusty-looking wire or beading string inside it, which came out while cleaning.

There is still a black stain running through the centre. I'm not sure if I will be able to remove that.  I will try running some lavender oil through it. Lavender oil is usually good for removing black marks on seaglass and as a bonus, it is antibacterial. It's worth a try I guess.

Last week I took a trip out to Skerries, a seaside town, North of Dublin. Though it was a beautiful day, the beach was practically deserted and very clean. I found not one single piece of beach treasure on the super clean strand, but as the tide was out we were able to poke about in the rocks and shingle leading around to the harbour. Though I had a disappointing yield, I did find one or two very interesting pieces.

My friend picked up this red and white, semi-opaque seaglass. It's an interesting find, but it might also be worth nothing, except for its lovely colour. I don't know much about this type of glass yet.

I do know that fully opaque sea glass or milk sea glass as it is often called is considered to be a poor relation to the transparent sort. However, I can't quite classify this piece as such. It reminds me of semi frosted, vintage vases and dishes, the kind your Granny might have had. Perhaps it is better described as sea pottery. Or perhaps it is just milk sea glass that has not been in the sea long enough....something for me to research so...

On a recent break at Rosses Point, Sligo, I found this cute piece of sea pottery with a red, floral design on it. It is beautifully 'chalky' or sea-worn and is probably very old. Well-worn sea pottery found in Ireland is often 100 years old or more.

This piece is the ideal shape for wire wrapping a pendant. It's not very large, but by the time I  have it wrapped with a bail on top, it will become a decent, medium-sized pendant.

In the meantime, I dream of one day finding a really great, pendant shaped and fully frosted 'ruby of the sea.'

To learn about shades of BLUE seaglass click: HERE

To learn about shades of GREEN seaglass click: HERE