C. S. Lambert - Sea Glass: Rare and Wonderful

Thank you to the following friends and family for their support and encouragement: Alex Barnes, Joanna Beyer, Karen Cadbury, Meg Carter, Pauline Carver, Matthew and Regina Chan, Martin and Dora Cheung, Kwan and Debbie Chung, Christie Cummins, Kirsti and Jonathan Hoover, Anthony Hutcheson, Linda Jereb, Steven Jones, Hing Bing and Anne Lau, Anthony, Dawn, and Grace Lau, Laura Meade, Angela Mondelli, Vivian Morosi, the North American Sea Glass Association, Diana Nuhn, Basil Panourgias, Joan and Tom Sabatino, Sea Glass Lovers, Tammy Smith, Susan Stackpole, Michael Steere, Louis and Angela Tong, Ellen Urban, Kaja Veilleux, Sandy Whitney, and Kathy Zvanovec.

Sea glass makes us happy. This pottery shard, found in Yorkshire, England, measures 2 1.

This marble may have come from a seaside arcade or perhaps its a remnant of a childhood game played decades ago.

Sea glass and gemstones have a lot in common. Both can be appraised according to color and hardness, but often by opposite specifications. Diamonds rank among the most favored gemsclear, radiant, and rare. Ironically, the sea glass equivalent, white glass, falls on the other side of the spectrum because it is usually lackluster and common. Gems are also valued according to their purity, yet with sea glass, pocking and other flaws add to its desirability. Of course, as with any comparison, there are all sorts of variables. For example, sapphires, normally thought of as blue, actually occur in a rainbow of colors. Padparadscha sapphires, known for their beautiful salmon color are the most sought after. The Carter Sea Glass Color and Rarity Guide by Meg Carter, has become an industry standard. In the Carter guide, the colors daffodil, sunflower, and cranberry rank among the highest and most sought after. Other sea glass evaluations also determine rarity, such as the overall volume in specific colors, glass quality, the glasss altered state, and location. Ultimately with sea glass, its all about its distinctive, flawed beauty.

In 2011, Elizabeth Taylors Burmese ruby and diamond ring sold for $1.5 million at Christies. While no one can doubt the rings value, few could afford these gemstones. But you cant put a price on the unsolved mysteries encapsulated in sea glass.

Neither flower petals nor chips of jade, these teal shards, rare in the United States, were gathered in Gran Canaria, Spain.

Deep in Romanias Carpathian Mountains, citizens of the small town of Azuga are said to keep to themselves. When Dracula was published in 1879 there were whispers about the connection between Bram Stokers gothic horror and the Azuga Beer factory. According to legend, Stokers book had been based on the true story of Count Draculaa vampire, an un-humanwho lived in a castle perched high on a scraggy cliff near the brewery. The locals had been heard to say that he slept between dawn and sunset, confined to his wooden casket deep below his castle, and that he never went out in the daylight. Azuga Beer employees still mention ancestors who reported a gray vapor entering the factory through a broken window, and the night-shift workers who wore long hair or scarves to hide small puncture marks.

This fragment from an Azuga beer bottle, found in Athens, Greece, measures approximately 2 1.

This piece from the bottom of a Borden milk bottle dates to the early 20th century. It measures 2 in diameter and was found in Owls Head, Maine.

In 1911, the first life-size cow created from five-hundred pounds of butter debuted at the Iowa State Fair. Since then, butter sculptures, along with Ferris wheels, tractor pulls, and agriculture and livestock exhibitions have become a late summer rite of passage throughout the nation. Also in 1911 at the same venue, the American Medical Association and the Iowa Congress of Mothers co-sponsored the first Better Baby competition. Infants aged six to thirty-six months were judged on their height, weight, symmetry, size of ears, and dispositioncriteria similar to the competition for the largest pumpkin and most unusual macaroni sculpture.

It may never be known if Borden, once Americas largest producer of dairy and pasta products, contributed to the five-hundred pound butter sculpture in Iowa. But according to an advertisement in a 1915 issue of the Literary Digest, If your baby does not measure up to the standard of the Better Babies movement, the first and most important thing to be considered is the question of feeding. It is not mere chance that so many prize winners in Baby Shows have been raised on Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk.

During six decades as British monarch, Queen Victoria influenced politics, fashion, and social conduct in England and much of the world. Overwhelmed by the death of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861, Victoria wore mourning attire and lived in seclusion for the remaining forty years of her life. She initiated what became known as the cult of mourning, and directed that members of her court must dress in black for the three years following Prince Alberts death.

This Victorian shard depicts a child at play. Found in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, it measures 2 2.

Victorias court and Englands elite preferred jewelry made from jet, a rare fossilized coal found primarily in Whitby, England. Yet this delicate and expensive mineral was in such demand that Whitbys cliffs were in danger of collapse, and mining was declared illegal. Most of the population who had wanted to follow Victorias fashion trend did not have the means to buy jet even before mining was outlawed, so black glass was the alternative used by the masses.

A 1-diameter mourning button, circa late 19th century, found in Kent, England.

Found in Fort Bragg, California, this shampoo bottle bottom, circa 1950s, measures 1 1.

Following a series of risqu films and well-publicized scandals involving Hollywood stars in the 1920s, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association created censorship guidelines that banned, among others things, on-screen profanity and nudity. The guidelines also stated that kisses could last no longer than three seconds and that violators must be punished. The period from 1930 to 1950 became known as Hollywoods Golden Age, when women wore softer hairstyles, less harsh makeup, and more modest clothing than in previous decades. Leading ladies such as Doris Day, Ginger Rogers, and Debbie Reynolds portrayed women with wholesome good looks. The advertising agency for the Breck shampoo company capitalized on the idealized version of American women and employed non-professionals, mostly blondes, to promote their shampoo. The original publicity images were painted in pastel colors with a halo-like effect. This helped create one of the most recognizable advertising symbolsthe iconic Breck Girlthat continued through the 1960s.