SEA GLASS

TREASURES
from the TIDE
CINDY BILBAO

COUNTRYMAN PRESS
WOODSTOCK, VERMONT
CONTENTS
Special Words of Thanks
Preface
Introduction
Sea Glass Treasures from the Tide
Epigraph
SPECIAL WORDS OF THANKS
I want to say thanks to my husband, Del, and our children,
Gene and Taylor, for without their patience, I would not have
been able to finish this book. I’m thankful that my son and
daughter love the beach as much as I do. May we have many
more beach moments together in the future.
A word of thanks to Rachel Dombrowski and Rebecca Boyer
for their invaluable help. Most of all I want to thank my mom,
Barbie Rightmyer, who has been the greatest influence on my
developing passion for sea glass. Whether pouring rain or
freezing cold, she is by my side on the beach, searching for
treasures, and we love every minute of it together!
A colorful collection of sea glass presides over a shipwreck located in Cape
May, New Jersey.
PREFACE
I became fascinated with sea glass many years ago, after
learning about it from an article in a magazine. Once I began
finding pieces, I started collecting it. However, for me,
collecting wasn’t satisfying enough. I wanted to capture the
memory of the moment when I first spied each piece on the
beach, how it glistened in the sand and how the color glowed in
the sunlight. Since I’m never without my camera, I began
photographing my sea glass treasures. The results were most
satisfying; I was able to focus on the individuality of each piece
while also capturing the magical moments of beachcombing.
The photography in this book is a record of my journey,
presented here to share with you the beauty that comes from
the tides.
INTRODUCTION
Sea glass is a rare treasure brought to the beach by the
surging tides. For the people who seek it out, it holds value
derived from their experiences at the beach. It represents an
emotional connection to the shore.
But sea glass also holds intrinsic value because of the
mysteries it carries. A quality piece is old—it has been
submerged in the ocean waters for many, many years until the
sharp edges have become smooth and rounded. Questions
about what it used to be in its original form, where it came
from, and how it ended up on a particular beach all beg to be
answered for the person who found it.
Then there are the physical characteristics of sea glass—no
two pieces are exactly the same. Color, markings, shape, and
patina (or weathering) will vary from one piece to the next,
making each unique.
Finally, sea glass is treasured for its beauty, which is the
reason, after all, that it ends up in glass jars on the windowsills
of our homes, and why it is presented here for you—so you can
see the infinite beauty it possesses.
Fearsome fish
Rare citron-colored sea glass resembles seaweed on the beach. This piece
was found on Martha’s Vineyard.
Luminescence
I photographed these pottery shards in a bubbled jar to mimick the way they
would look as they tumbled in the surf.
Icy-looking sea glass on a warm beach
An antique frosted button found on the coast of Rhode Island
The pattern on this glass makes it resemble the clear, round jellyfish I step
over at the shore in the summer.
Extremely rare red sea glass
This ceramic shard has the blue and white coloring typical of Chinese export
pottery. It was found in southern New Jersey, where offshore there are
thousands of shipwrecks and lost cargos. Is it Chinese pottery from a ship
that sunk a hundred years ago? Could be.
 Resembling an ocean wave, this was a soda or beer bottle that melted from
intense heat—during a bonfire, or perhaps more mysteriously, a fire onboard
a ship.
This soft, pale blue aqua chunk of glass found in southern Maine was
probably part of a medicine bottle from the late 1800s.
A search beneath the seaweed reveals treasure.
A brown bottle rim reflects the spiral in the shell.
Scallop boat red, sailor’s rope white, and cerulean sea blue
 Aqua glass found along the southern New Jersey shoreline usually comes
from old cola bottles. This one came from a bottler located in Atlantic City
around 1920.
From the late 1800s, this bottle’s rounded bottom ensures it will lay on its
side, allowing the cork to remain moist, which keeps the carbonation from
escaping. A Cape Cod find.
 A beautiful cornflower blue piece of sea glass found in Gloucester,
Massachusetts. This shade of blue was produced from the 1920s to the
1950s, making it a rare find.
The frosted nature of sea glass is my favorite characteristic because it’s the
physical representation of its duration in the ocean. A shiny new piece of
glass will reflect light with a bright glare, but older, frosted sea glass will
diffuse the light into a soft glow.
The iridescence seen on this shard comes from the minerals that are in the
dirt under which this glass was buried. The glass washed ashore in southern
New Jersey.
Black glass insulators from old lightbulbs, possibly a hundred years old
The ocean waters have worn down and rounded this piece of pottery so that
only a small hint of its blue color now shows.
Yellow glass from the early 1900s, found in southern New Jersey
The glow from the setting sun brings out the embossed markings of a Coca
Cola bottle found on Assateague Island, Maryland.
The many footprints on the beach left the sand looking like minimountains.
This collection of frosted white sea glass has the same softly rounded edges
as the sand mountains.
Harbor Rest
Turquoise-colored sea glass is extremely rare. Statistically, you’ll find it
once in every five thousand pieces.
The shape of this sea glass makes me wonder if it was on a ship that caught
fire, causing the glass to melt. With no markings, there’s no clue as to what
it might have been. The piece was found on Cape Ann, Massachusetts.
This deep, rich teal color was a very rare find on a Cape May, New Jersey,
beach.
Because of its manganese content, the longer purple sea glass basks in the
sun, the deeper its color.
When sea glass rests in the high tide line, chances are it will be dry, making
it harder to spot, like this heavily frosted piece of green glass found on Cape
Cod.
Sunset-enhanced sea glass
EPIGRAPH
BEACHCOMBING
When the sun is sitting low in the eastern sky, it appears to
be trying its hardest to rise above the horizon. This is the most
magical hour of the day to beachcomb, before anyone else
arrives. My shadow on the sand is long as the light hits it in an
almost shy manner. It is not a bold, pounding light from
straight above like it will be later; rather, it is a diffused
lightness that seems more golden. The water is calm this early
in the morning, so that the tide appears almost hesitant as it
washes ashore in the abbreviated version of a wave.
This beach is not oceanside; it is a bayside beach whose
waters are better behaved. The tide on mornings such as this is
soft and gentle, so that as you walk alongside it you can hear
the sound of the water receding through the millions of pebbles
that line the shore. As I listen to the surf tinkling like this, a
sideways glance gives me pause. An outline of something white
catches my attention. Its square shape stands out against the
roundness of beach pebbles. It is a shard of pottery glistening
in the rays of the warming sun. I discover a pattern of design
on its surface that is an unusual shade of violet-purple.
The find is utterly exciting—in direct contrast to the gentle
tide and the calmly rising sun—and my heart begins racing
wildly as I stare in amazement at my discovery. It is the only
treasure to be found on this beach on this autumn morning,
and I am grateful to have spied it. The sun is higher in the sky
now, and it has become more intense. The light is sharper and
warmer as it brightens the beach for the arriving fishermen
and people walking their dogs. As I leave, I smile and pat my
and people walking their dogs. As I leave, I smile and pat my
pocket, thankful to be a part of the dawn as it greets the
seashore at the beginning of the day.
It always amazes me to think that on an entire expanse of beach, I happened
along the one tiny section that held my treasure and, luckily, I spotted it.
Photographs and text copyright © 2014 by Cindy Bilbao
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems
without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may
quote brief passages.
Published by The Countryman Press, P.O. Box 748,
Woodstock, VT 05091
Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
Sea Glass Treasures from the Tide
978-1-58157-209-4
978-1-58157-687-0 (e-book)