Entirely handmade by me in my Connecticut studio, this pendant features a piece of the vibrant cobalt blue glass that was often used for patent medicines in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Raised letters read "PA"--suggesting that this was, in fact, a piece of a patent medicine bottle. Because patent medicines often included opium or other natural sedatives, I completed the pendant by sawing the outline of an opium poppy into the back.
Sea glass or beach glass (or, as I grew up calling it, frosted glass) forms over decades as glass objects lost or discarded by humans are gradually abraded by sand and other substances on the ocean floor. It's an incredibly evocative material, and increasingly rare as glass gives way to plastic--a material that has a far more insidious effect on the environment. Sea glass is a contradiction. It's trash, but it's also evidence of the beauty that can be made from human wastefulness.
The sea glass featured in this necklace comes from my mother's curated lifetime collection. She found most of the glass on the beaches of Washington state, with some pieces from Oregon and California.
The setting, bail, and chain for this necklace are made from argentium sterling silver and fine silver. Argentium sterling silver is a patented type of sterling with more pure silver than regular sterling silver (94% vs. 92.5%). It resists tarnish, finishes hard, and exhibits a bright silver color. It is hypoallergenic and contains no nickel.
The necklace may be purchased with no chain or with an 18-inch or 20-inch chain. Other lengths are available on request. To purchase the pendant only, choose the "0 inches" option.
