URANIUM GLASS - PRESSED AND CUT 
Even more striking than that seen in “chameleon glass" is the shimmering dual-colored yellow 
and green of the pressed glass chamber candlestick, also made at the J. Meyr glass house (ill. 
125). A strong shade of green appears to collect at the edges and rims and to emphasise the con- 
tours. It arrived at the Technical Cabinet around 1845 and could have come from the Vienna exhi- 
bition that same year where the Company, Meyr’s Neffen, was amply represented. More than half 
a Century later, the Technical Museum acquired a beaker and a lidded goblet (ill. 126) which we 
are not able to attribute to any particular glass house. Probably from the middle of the 19th Cen 
tury, the goblet bears an incised dedication in writing with the year 1857. The history of uranium 
glass lies in obscurity. Frequently it is first mentioned in connection with the year 1840 and the 
wife of Josef Riedel, Anna, for whom a certain type of glass, “Annagelb” (Anna-yellow) is sup- 
posed to have been named. “Annagrün" (Anna-green) is also mentioned in this same connection. 
However, it would be incorrect to apply the term “Annagelb” to all the glasses with a yellowish 
green appearance, a practice that frequently occurs today. 
ON THE TECHNOLOGY OF YELLOWISH GREEN GLASSES 
Depending on the composition leading more to the yellow or more to the green, a specific ex- 
ample of glass will be counted among the yellow or the green, although it must be pointed out 
that while this coloration can be made by uranium, it has also been made by using other mate- 
rials. 
“The addition of uranium oxide,” according to Gerner, “gives Bohemian crystal a peculiar green- 
ish yellow shimmer” (Gerner, 1880, p. 243). 
Hohlbaum says uranium oxide gives “the glass, especially potash glass, a fluorescent yellowish 
green color” (Hohlbaum, 1910, p. 7); he also names barium Chromate as a means of getting 
yellowish green (Hohlbaum, 1910, p. 24). 
Cadmium sulfide, according to Randau, colors glass “fiery yellow with a hint of green” (Randau, 
1905, p. 54). According to Schnurpfeil, greenish yellow in glass can be achieved in different ways 
(Schnurpfeil, 1923, pp. 16, 18): 
Iron results in more yellowish green in lead glass, more bluish green shades in potash and soda 
glass ... the chromium compounds color glass green with a touch of yellow. The lead glasses are 
colored more into yellow by chromium oxide, while soda glass takes on a sap-green color and 
potash glass a greenish yellow (yellow finch colored). . . 
ON THE HISTORY OF URANIUM GLASS 
In the “Uranium Compounds in Industry” (glassmaking and porcelain painting) of 1963, Franz 
Kirchheimer devoted an illuminating chapter pointing to a large number of early sources con 
nected with the subject (Kirchheimer, 1963, p. 274 ff.). The formulations given by Klaproth around 
1789, however, are “not usable in practice” says Kirchheimer, and not until 1834 did G. L. C. 
Müller “publish the first reports on the use of uranium compounds in glassmaking” (Kirchheimer, 
1963, pp. 280, 281). 
According to Peterson, however, Meissner already mentions in 1824 in the 4th volume of his 
handbook on general and technical Chemistry, “that uranium oxide possesses the faculty to color 
glass paste yellow." (Peterson, 1894, p. 12). 
Benjamin von Scholz already reported in 1820: “Antimony glance and uranium oxides, then silver 
Chloride [color] yellow; . . .” (Scholz, 1820, p. 143; taken over word for word by Keess 2/1823, p. 
588). Some authors of specialized Contemporary literature mention the use of uranium in glass 
making only in passing or not at all. To draw the conclusion from this, that uranium was not used 
betöre 1840 to color glass, would be incorrect. It can be proved that the “composition glass fac- 
tories” of Bohemia knew about uranium’s power to color glass - already before 1835 - at 
Blaschka, as can be gathered from the surviving accounts on “Compositions in Raw Pieces” (also 
see p. 34). “Coloration through Copper; Altered by the Addition of Uranium,” “Typical Coloration 
Using Copper and Uranium,” “Coloration Using Copper and Uranium,” “Anna-green Coloration 
Using Copper and Uranium,” “Heavy Lead Glass. Coloration Using Uranium and Iron,” are all con- 
cerned with transparent compositions. Opaque colorations using uranium were also known: “Sat 
uration through Phosphoric Lime. Coloration Using Uranium and Iron,” “Saturation through Phos- 
phoric Lime. Coloration Using Copper and Uranium.” The latter “composition” could have been 
one with chrysoprase-like colors. If we assume - and there appears to be no evidence to the con- 
trary - that these terms came about at the same time as the “raw compositions,” we find the term 
“Annagrün” already before 1835; can it therefore still be connected with Anna Riedel? 
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