Milk glass

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Decorative pedestal milk glass bowl

Milk glass is an opaque, milky white or colored glass, blown or pressed into a wide variety of shapes. Milk glass is a popular collectible. First made in Venice in the 16th century, colors include blue, pink, yellow, brown, black, and the white that leads to its popular name.

Some milk glass glows under ultraviolet (UV) light, leading to a popular misconception that it contains uranium, like uranium glass. The glow of milk glass, however, is due to the fluorescence of the fluorite used in producing the white pigments.

[edit] History

First made in Venice in the 16th century, colors include blue, pink, yellow, brown, black, and white. 19th-century glassmakers called milky white opaque glass "opal glass". The name milk glass is relatively recent. The white color is achieved through the addition of tin dioxide.

Made into decorative dinner-ware, lamps, vases, and costume jewelry, milk glass was highly popular during the fin de siecle. Pieces made for the wealthy of the Gilded Age are known for their delicacy and beauty in color and design, while Depression glass pieces of the 1930s and '40s are less so.

[edit] Collectible

Milk glass has a considerable following of collectors. Glass makers continue to produce both original pieces and reproductions of popular collectible pieces and patterns.