Mermaid and Merman Art Nouveau Paperweight

Stunning image of a mermaid and merman. This glowing lime-green image shows the romantic aquatic couple floating under the sea. This vintage Art Nouveau design was found on an antique platter made of Uranium glass--sometimes called vaseline glass. In the late 19th century, powdered Uranium ore was mixed with glass to give it a faint light green tint. It fell out of favor in the early 20th century when electric lighting became more common. Sunlight gives it a slightly glowing, appealing look--but electric lighting gives it a garish, unattractive look. The government claimed all Uranium for obvious reasons in the early 40s, which ended all use in glass at that time. At some point, somebody discovered that shining an ultraviolet black light on Uranium glass makes it glow a pretty spectacular glowing green color, due to the excitement of the Uranium atoms! The old glass has become collectible and popular again for this reason. Fun to find in thrift stores.