The USA definition of vaseline glass : 
American collectors consider any kind of glass which glows under
ultra-violet light because it contains uranium, as vaseline glass.
This glass can be green or yellow and the accepted vaseline glass
definition by Vaseline Glass Collectors Inc, states it must contain
uranium salts and be of a yellow/green hue and vaseline glass items
should emit a green glow under a UV or Black Light.
The Full Definition :
Vaseline Glass is a particular color of yellow-green glass that
is made by adding 2% Uranium Dioxide to the ingredients when the
glass formula is manufactured.
The addition of the Uranium Dioxide makes the glass color yellow-green.
Vaseline Glass is always verifiable by using an ultraviolet light
(blacklight) on the glass item. When this is done, the glass turns
a bright flourescent green. Sometimes, even the most trained eye
can be fooled by a piece of glass that looks like Vaseline Glass,
but will not glow or fluoresce bright green under a blacklight.
Not all yellow-green glass will turn florescent GREEN when a UV
light is shone on it. When manganese is added to the glass formula
(which also makes a yellow-colored glass) instead of Uranium Dioxide,
for instance, the end product will glow under a black light, but
the color is an orange/peach color OR a lime green color that is
much fainter than the bright neon green under UV light. Manganese
is added to the glass mixture to counteract the minor traces of
iron that would give the glass a coke-bottle greenish tint.
Yellow to yellow-green glass that turns florescent bright green
(under UV light) is the only true verification of
Vaseline Glass.
Antique Vaseline glass has become an important area for glass
collectors.
The range of makers, styles and age is diverse. Many of the current
sources of vaseline glass are American glassmakers, with several
of these still in production.
In Europe the use of uranium was almost eliminated after WW2, with
the exception of some Venetian glass on the island of Murano.
More recently vaseline glass manufacture has been re-started by
some Czech glass producers who often copy the styles and patterns
of antique english glass makers. Some of the more notable English
glassmakers to use uranium as a yellow/green colourant were Davidson,
Greener, Sowerby and Burtles Tate.
There have been claims that its first use was as early as 79 AD
following the discovery in 1912 of a glass mosaic in the excavation
on a Roman Villa near Naples in Italy but this was never proven.
Other collectors consider it was first used by Josef Riedel at
his Bohemian glassworks in the 1830's.
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| Wonderful example of a salt cellar
made from a Vaseline Glass and in the shape of a hen on a nest. |
A tall vase with brass foot most
likely Thomas Webb, England. A gather was made of cranberry
and then a larger gather of vaseline glass was made. Additives
were also used to make it opalescent. The top was reheated to
flare out the rim, and the opalescent layer gives the cranberry
color some depth. |
Possibly made by a company in
the Stourbridge region of England. Numerous pieces of this inner
pink with a vaseline glass outer layer are known, in large bride's
baskets, little handled baskets, and in both clear and satin
finishes. Speculation leans toward Thomas Webb as the maker
but it could have been Stevens & Williams. |
Rare vaseline glass crystal atomizer,
model 'Torsade' or 'Bambous Tors', produced by the 'Cristallerie
of Kings' Baccarat, during the late 1800s to early 1900s |
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The
UK definition of vaseline glass :