In Victorian times and in more recent history, part of our local beach at Folkstone was used as a tip. Household items and builders waste was simply tipped over the cliff edge!
Folkestone also had a glass works, and it seems that waste glass and slag (a by-product of glass making) from the factory was at one time also disposed of in this way. A lot of the glass found on the beach comes from Victorian times, when it was common to dispose of waste in this way up and down the coastline.
The glass would have originally been from household items such as drinking glasses, table wear, lampshades, window panes, perfume and medicine bottles, soda and alcohol bottles, to name but a few. They were smashed during the fall or broken up by the sea.
Over a long period, the sea then tumbled the pieces to create the shape and texture you see in our jewellery. We do not change the shape or texture of the glass, but use it as we find it, incorporating it into our design. The frosting of the glass is a clue to its age - the more frosted it is, the older it is.
Comments