GLASS MINING GUIDE Mudlarking In River Thames
What is glass mining?
There are many shards of glass on Thames Bankside in central London, mainly from the 18th to 19th centuries. These River glasses experienced artificial and natural two production stages， making them unique. In the long years of being discarded, Man-made glass products record the changes in people's life and history. As the river washes away, its form and surface record the traces of nature. Why can these river glasses not be mineral samples？ Why can't it be valued again? In this guide, glass mining regards River Thames glass as a type of crystal, analyzing its shape, color, traces, and history to establish an evaluation system.
Vision Glass Industries produce much waste ranging from the products of the used raw materials to the damaged products, and consume colossal energy. Furthermore, the raw material silica sand is facing the problem of over-exploitation. Glass is 100% recyclable theoretically, but not 100% glass can be recycled. Broken glass can be hazardous and difficult to sort. Although brittle, buried silicate glass will survive in landfills or some corners for long periods. Playful Minging Recycle Project aims to let glass waste back into the recycle loop in a playful and meaningful way.
Prepareation Before going to mining glass, you need to know: ○ You need a license from PLA. Without a permit, Eyes only. You're not allowed to dig, scrape, or use a metal detector. ○ Know the time of the tides and go at low tide. ○ Wearing gloves will protect you from sharp glass. ○ Boots walk better on mud and rocks. ○ The side backpack is convenient for storing glass or bringing any bag.
Before going to pick up the glass, you need to know:
You need a license from PLA. Without a permit, Eyes only. You're not allowed to dig, scrap Know the time of the tides and go at low tide. Wearing gloves will protect you from sharp glass. Boots walk better on mud and rocks. The side backpack is convenient for storing glass or bringing any bag.
or use a metal detector.
Let’s start!
Divided into 3 size level Size
A
Smaller sizes are not easy to find and collect
Size
B
Suit for craft
Size
C
Exceeding this size is usually the bottom of the bottle, or nearly a complete bottle
Remake
SIZE M GLASS RING
Color Shade of green Green has been one of the most common glass colors in bottles because its raw material, sand, generally contains iron impurities resulting in many hues and shades of green. You can find out what kind of green glass is by comparing it with the color board.
Seafoam
Light green
Jade
Sea
Light Seafoam
White
afoam
Peridot Lime
Olive Forest Green
Dark green
Teal
Light Teal
Aqua
Specimen Collection
Specimen glass is a fragment of glass with information about its origin, including which part of the glassware. Or be able to tell if it's a different type of glass using a different process. And at the end, there are lots of boxes for special fragments that have not been defined yet.
TOP
NECK
BOTTOM
STOPPER
MARBLE
HANDLE
Usually from perfume bottles, sauce bottles, and apothecary bottles.
Usually from Codd-neck bottle or glass toy marbles.
MESH
EMBOSSED
FLAT
Usually from wired glass window.
？ WASTE
Glass production waste from glass factories up the Thames.
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Unknown - To be explored
IRIDESCENCE
SQUARE BOTTLE
The glass surface will appear iridescence after being eroded by water for a long time.
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Unknown - To be explored
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Unknown - To be explored
Granding Status After tumbling with sand and stones for many years, the surface can form a foggy surface and even have visible pits.
A
B
C
Thickness and Technique The thicker the glass walls are, they are usually mouth-blown, which is probably from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Measure
Thickness
A
Thickness
B
Thickness
C
Thickness
D
Thickness
E
Impact point
Cir
cul
ar
cra
cks
Ra
di
ca
lc
ra
ck
s
Fracture and shape
Specimen Cards Example
： ： ： ： A
B
C
： A
B
C
B
C
： A
E
： 丨
F
丨