How to tell good stained glass from bad stained glass?
In Leaded Glass Windows, Lamps, and Artworks:
- Straight leadlines are perfectly straight and curved leadlines are smooth and precise. ...
- Solder joints are smooth and relatively small. In other words, there are no long "arms" of solder trailing down one or more of the leadlines adjacent to a solder ...
- Where two leadlines cross each other, they match up both ways. ...
Who sells stained glass?
“Stained-glass windows tend to flex and sag over time, so the repair was imperative,” said church elder Ray Rubrake. Much of the glass hasn’t been touched since the church was built in 1876. Over time, paint faded and window frames bent, leading the church to apply for the grant over the past few years.
Which stained glass patterns are in style?
You'll Find Tutorials and 100s of Free Patterns for Stained Glass
- What You'll Find Here
- A Quick and Easy Free Pattern Search
- Links to Web Sites With Free Patterns For Stained Glass
- Many free Stained Glass Tutorials, that are step-by-step with pictures, where you can learn to do stained glass.
- A place to Ask Questions and Get Answers about problems you're having with your stained glass work.
Is stained glass translucent or transparent?
Many stained glass innovations are attributed to Mr. Tiffany and can still be found in Kokomo Opalescent Glass today is their use of strong color, a huge variety of textures including ripple glass, mottled glass (glass with areas of opaque and translucent spots of color), and marbleized (two or more opaque colors swirled together).
Does stained glass have a hyphen?
One example that pops up frequently in the “Friend” is “stained glass”. The window is made of stained glass. But if we are talking about a stained-glass window, the words are being used to describe the window and so they are hyphenated.Sep 12, 2018
Is it stained glass window or stained glass window?
stained glass, in the arts, the coloured glass used for making decorative windows and other objects through which light passes. Strictly speaking, all coloured glass is “stained,” or coloured by the addition of various metallic oxides while it is in a molten state.
What do you call a stained glass?
“Stained glass” is the popular term used to describe what is more properly called “leaded glass,” because the materials used can be colored (stained) or not. Often, customers use the terms interchangeably. However, it is the use of lead caming that qualifies a window as being of the “leaded glass” variety.
Why is stained glass called stained glass?
Why is it called stained glass? The term stained glass derives from the silver stain that was often applied to the side of the window that would face the outside of the building. When the glass was fired, the silver stain turned a yellow color that could range from lemon to gold.
What are church stained glass windows called?
It is often called cathedral glass, but this has nothing to do with medieval cathedrals, where the glass used was hand-blown. Cathedral glass comes in a very wide variety of colors and surface textures including hammered, rippled, seedy, and marine textures. It is made in the US, England, Germany, and China.
How do you do stained glass?
0:5212:20Getting Started in Stained Glass Art - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou don't need a lot of tools you need a glass cutter. You need some solder you need some copperMoreYou don't need a lot of tools you need a glass cutter. You need some solder you need some copper foil and a soldering iron. And you're good to go you can expand you can get a glass grinder.
Is stained glass Gothic?
Stained glass windows are one of the most recognizable features of Gothic architecture, a style that developed in medieval Europe in the 12th century.Jan 10, 2022
What is the black part of stained glass called?
Negative Space. Any part of a glass window through which no light is transmitted, usually the dark lead line, matrix area of a window and/or an opaque painted area.
Can you paint stained glass?
You can choose to paint an abstract stained glass window of “shards” and geometric shapes or try your hand at a creative art design! There's no wrong way to do it! Let your paint dry.Mar 24, 2020
How can you tell stained glass?
How to tell if stained glass is real?Stained glass is made by joining glass pieces using lead/copper foils. ... If the stained glass has lead lines, the lines should be perfectly straight.If the stained glass has a curved line design, the curves should look smooth.More items...•Apr 4, 2021
Can you use any type of glass for stained glass?
For this you will always need a special Fusible Glass, which can either be opaque or transparent. To clear up a frequently asked question; you can use absolutely any sheets for making stained glassart, including Fusible sheets.Oct 23, 2021
What is the purpose of the stained glass windows?
The purpose of most windows is to allow a view of the outside and admit light into a building. The purpose of stained glass windows, however, is not to allow people to see outside, but to beautify buildings, control light, and often times to tell a story.Oct 2, 2015
What is stained glass?
stained glass, in the arts, the coloured glass used for making decorative windows and other objects through which light passes. Strictly speaking, all coloured glass is “stained,” or coloured by the addition of various metallic oxides while it is in a molten state. Nevertheless, the term stained glass has come to refer primarily to ...
Why are stained glass windows less harmonies?
The singular colour harmonies of the stained-glass window are less due to any special glass-colouring technique itself than to the exploitation of certain properties of transmitted light and the light-adaptive behaviour of human vision.
How does light change stained glass?
A seemingly endless spectrum of changes in the appearance of stained glass is a result of the changes in the intensity, disposition, atmospheric diffusion, and colour of natural daylight. The luminous life of stained glass, therefore, can best be observed by watching the organic effect of light on the window through the course of a day. If one were to enter Chartres Cathedral just after sunrise on the morning of a clear day, it would be to the east windows, especially those in the clerestory, that one’s eyes would first be drawn. They alone will have come fully to life, and all of the others will still seem to half-exist in a kind of hushed twilight. Gradually, as the sun rises in the sky, these windows will become more luminous. Then the east windows will begin to lose their earlier brilliance to those all along the south flank of the cathedral, which by midday will be fairly aglow from the direct rays of the sun. The light streaming through the south windows, however, will have raised the light level inside the north windows opposite them sufficiently to create a distinct, though by no means unpleasant, muting of the radiance of the latter. If the sun at this point disappears behind a cloud and the sky becomes generally overcast, the appearance of all of the windows is immediately and dramatically altered. Because the light, now diffused, comes more or less equally from all directions, the south windows will lose some of their earlier brilliance and vivacity and the north windows will recover theirs. The overall atmosphere of the cathedral is distinctly cooler and graver in its effect, and more than ever before one begins to become aware of absolute differences in the tonality of the various windows themselves. The grisaille windows in the east end of the cathedral, the highly keyed 15th-century window in the Vendôme Chapel in the south aisle of the nave, and the three 12th-century windows over the great west portal all stand out as being substantially more luminous than the rest. If, late in the afternoon, the sun reappears, the viewer is treated to an extraordinary spectacle as the blues in the west windows, by far the most intense in the cathedral, are further emblazoned by the direct rays of the sun. Should the main doors of the cathedral be opened, the direct rays of the late afternoon sun, streaming halfway down the nave of the cathedral, will cast a blinding pall over all the windows within their vicinity until the doors are closed once more. Then as the sky begins to redden with the setting sun, the intense 12th-century blues in the west windows lose their former intensity, and the warmer colours, especially the rubies, become so fiery and assertive that they seem almost to have displaced the blues as the predominant colour in the windows. Finally, when the sun is gone the whole cathedral is plunged once more into a deep twilight, which gradually diminishes until there is no light at all.
What was the thickness of stained glass?
The sheets, 10 by 12 inches (25 by 30 centimetres) in size, were both flat enough and thin enough to be cut very accurately into the necessary shapes, yet still variable enough in thickness (from less than 1/8 inch [3 millimetres] to as much as 5/16 inch [8 millimetres]) to have rich transitions in the depth of their colours. With the progress of glass technology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance came the ability to produce larger, thinner, and flatter sheets of glass in a considerably larger range of colours than had been possible in the 13th century. At each distinguishable stage in this development, however, the glass became less visually interesting as an aesthetic element in its own right. The Gothic Revivalists later recognized this effect, and in the mid-19th century they initiated a return to the earlier methods of producing glass. They developed the so-called “antique” glass, which is remarkably similar in colour, texture, and shading to the glass that was used in the 12th- and 13th-century windows. “Antique” glass remains the basic material used in stained-glass windows to this day.
What was the trend in stained glass in the 14th and 15th centuries?
In the 14th and 15th centuries, generally higher keyed, drier, and more muted colour harmonies were developed. This reflected a growing preference for lighter, less awesome effects and an actual limitation that the architecture of the time imposed upon the medium of stained glass.
When were stained glass windows invented?
Rarely equalled and never surpassed, the great stained-glass windows of the 12th and early 13th centuries actually predate significant technical advances in the glassmaker’s craft by more than half a century.
Is glassmaking the same as stained glass?
Contrary to popular belief, the glassmaker and the stained-glass artist could seldom have been the same person even in the earliest times; in fact, the two arts were rarely practiced at the same location. The glassmaking works was most readily set up at the edge of a forest, where the tremendous quantities of firewood, ash, and sand that were necessary for the making of glass could be found, whereas the stained-glass-window-making studios were normally set up near the major building sites. The stained-glass artist, thus, has always been dependent upon the glassmaker for his primary material. Coloured with metallic oxides while in a molten state—copper for ruby, cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, antimony for yellow, iron for green—sheets of medieval glass were produced by blowing a bubble of glass, manipulating it into a tubular shape, cutting away the ends to form a cylinder, slitting the cylinder lengthwise down one side, and flattening it into a sheet while the glass was still red hot and in a pliable state. It was then allowed to cool very slowly in a kiln so that it would be properly annealed and not too difficult to cut up into whatever shapes might be required for the design. Since these sheets of glass, with the exception of a type known as flashed glass, were intrinsically coloured with one basic colour throughout, changes from one colour to another in the design of a window could be effected only by introducing separate pieces of glass in each of the requisite colours.
When did stained glass come into use?
The term 'stained glass' seems to have come into use around the beginning of the nineteenth century as a contraction of ‘painted and stained glass’; in the Middle Ages it was simply called 'glass' or 'glaziers’ work'; in Germany it is 'Glasmalerie' and in France it is 'vitrail'.
What is a metal bar on stained glass?
A metal bar attached to the inside of a stained glass panel and secured to the window jambs to prevent bulging or sagging, or secondary structural elements set into the window frame and attached to the window panels by solder and copper wires to provide additional bracing and support.
How is flat glass made?
Flat glass manufactured by floating the ribbon of drawn, molten glass on a long bath of molten tin, and fire-polishing the upper surface, yielding a smooth, polished surface on both sides.
What is decorative glass?
stained, leaded, laminated, fused, etc.) glass designed, made and installed to harmonize with the structure and function of a building.
What is the term for a phenomenon where light colored glass, when surrounded by darker glass, seems to spread beyond?
A phenomenon where light-colored glass, when surrounded by darker glass, seems to spread beyond actual boundaries, creating a halo effect .
When was iridescent glass invented?
Iridescent glass patented by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the 1894, produced by the exposure of hot glass to metallic fumes and oxides,characterized by a “rainbow” effect when seen from different angles.
What is mouth blown glass?
Mouth-blown sheet glass with the irregularity of "medieval" glass. Glass blown into a large cylinder that is cut, opened, and flattened into a sheet. Variations of antique glass may include seedy, crackle, flashed, opal, opak, reamy and streaky. "Antique" refers to the technique – not the age.
Why is stained glass so popular?
Stained glass has been produced and enjoyed for millennia because of its beauty, manufacturability and durability. But what is stained glass made from? Below is a short discussion on stained glass and the projects we love to make with it.
How does clear glass get its color?
It is “stained” through the manufacturing process, not by coloring it afterwards. Clear glass is made from silica sand and other ingredients to give it the proper clarity, melting temperature and strength.
What materials are used to join glass?
There are two common materials used to join glass –copper foil and lead. With each, the glass edges are held in a channel that conforms to the shape of the piece. Copper foil is commonly used by hobbyists due to its ease of assembly. Lead is more costly and difficult to use, but requires far less solder and produces a very uniform, predictable result. At Renegade, we use lead in our stained glass projects, but we often repair copper foil items for customers.
What is clear glass made of?
Clear glass is made from silica sand and other ingredients to give it the proper clarity, melting temperature and strength. Glass is colored by adding metal oxides or metal powders to molten glass. Depending on the metal, the glass takes on a particular color. You may have seen “cobalt blue” glass –yes, that color comes from adding cobalt.
How is iridized glass made?
Iridized glass is made by adding a thin coating of metal oxide to the glass sheet. “Irid” glasses have a rainbow effect. Dichroic, or “dichro”, glass is made by adding multiple ultra-thin layers of these oxides to the glass. This makes dichro glass change color depending on the angle of viewing. With this property, and some texture to change ...
Why is stained glass painted?
All color is inherent in the glass and is due to its chemical content . Painting as it is mentioned here means the use of the only pigment used by the glass painter which is monochromatic and is made permanent by firing. It is used the help delineate design concepts. The density can be controlled to produce opaque lines or it can be modulated in texture to reduce halation and to temper light as desired.
What is the name of the technique used to paint glass?
Painted glass and other techniques can be easily combined with fusing creating a technique commonly refered to as “painting with light.”. Because of the demands of firing and annealing glass, glass kilns today typically operate under the direction of a computerized kiln controller.
What is a fused glass?
Fused glass, also known as warm glass or kiln-formed glass, is made when two or more pieces of glass, which are compatible, are heated in a kiln until they melt and fuse together into a single piece. Typically, fusing refers to any glass that has been worked in a kiln; the possibilities of texture, color, and thickness are vast.
What is transparent adhesive?
Transparent adhesives have made it possible to affix glasses of many types and colors to plate glass. This technique makes it possible to create effects of apparent spontaneity different from those of the built-in discipline of leaded work. Color superimposed on color can be used to create harmonies of great subtlety.
Is lead a good material for glass?
The durability of lead along with its flexibility when formed into grooved strings makes it a suitable material to bind fragments of glass into decorative panels. The use of lead is merely functional when framing separate pieces of color but the organization of the lines can become an important design element. Each designer arranges them in his own way for his stylistic purposes. They may be left as an unobtrusive geometrical pattern subordinated to color changes or featured in assertive and energetic linear rhythms.
Can glass be used in architecture?
Glass has many potentialities, contemporary studios are constantly developing and researching new design concepts in ornamental glass for use in architecture, sculpture and other artwork. These are all available to the architect and to the architect's client, and can be incorporated into a building if the architect will consult with a studio in the early planning stages.
What are the advantages of stained glass?
One of the most appealing advantages of stained glass is its versatility. Not only can you personalize stained glass windows with the colors, designs, and artwork that you want, you can also choose from a wide variety of different types of glass to achieve the desired look. Stained glass can be categorized in a number of ways and there are hundreds, if not thousands of types of glass – in different textures and colors – that can be utilized in stained glass work.
What are the characteristics of antique stained glass?
Characteristics of full antique stained glass include appealing linear striations, and small round (or oval) bubbles (called seeds). These seeds are one of the most important features of this glass. Antique glass can be incorporated into any stained glass piece. It forms gorgeous flowers, entire panels, and attractive backdrops. As you might expect, this is one of the most expensive types of stained glass available.
What is Art Glass?
Art glass is a decorative form of glass that, in some instances, is crafted by hand. Stained glass is the most popular type of art glass. Commonly referred to as leaded glass, stain glass comes inn large, colored sheets. Although the designs made using stained glass are artfully hand-crafted, the production may occur in a factory on an assembly line or be mouth-blown in a studio. The high price tag on stained glass has to do with the cost of materials and how much time it takes to create.
What is scribed antique glass?
1. Full Antique. Full antique, or “full mouth-blown antique,” refers to art glass that was produced using the historical mouth-blown cylinder method.
What is beveled glass?
Beveled glass is usually a clear, thick plate of glass with edges that were ground and polished to an angle other than 90 degrees. This creates a prism-like effect, as the light transmitted through the glass refracts. Beveled glass comes in many shapes and sizes, in addition to sets or clusters.
What is glue chip glass?
The texture is formed on the surface of cold glass by applying animal hide glue then allowing it to dry under controlled humidity and temperatures. As the glue dries, it contracts and chips the glass, creating a natural, appealing pattern that looks similar to frost on a windowpane. Glue chip glass is used most often for background glass, but also works well for borders.
What is opalescent glass?
Opalescent glass, on the other hand, is an opaque type of glass with a milky appearance – meaning you cannot see through it . It comes in varying degrees of transparency, with some possessing a soft glow and others transmitting not light at all. Oftentimes, opalescent glass is constructed using one color or by swirling two or more colors together.
What are the advantages of stained glass?
One of the most attractive advantages of stained glass is its versatility. Not only can you customize stained glass windows and art with the colors and designs you want, but you can also use different types of glass to achieve different visual effects.
What is iridescent stained glass?
Iridescent glass is known for its glittery, reflective quality and unique “mother of pearl” sheen.
How is glue chip glass made?
Glue chip glass is defined by its natural-looking textured pattern. This texture is created by applying animal hide glue to a sheet of glass (usually sandblasted cathedral) and then heating it. As the glue dries it contracts, chipping the glass and creating beautiful frost-like patterns.
What are the two groups of antique glass?
There are several variations of antique glass in and of itself, most of which can be sorted into two groups: full antique and semi-antique.
What is beveled glass?
Beveled Glass. Beveled glass is primarily identified by its angled edges. Sheets of this type of glass are thick with a polished, angled border about half an inch wide. It is usually clear, so that when the light shines through and hits the angled edges it refracts with a prism-like effect.
What is opalescent glass?
Opalescent Glass. Opalescent glass is distinguished by its opaqueness, meaning that you cannot see through it. It comes in different degrees of transparency—sometimes with a soft glowing appearance or sometimes transmitting no light at all.
Why is cathedral glass used for windows?
These sheets are thin, usually one color, and often textured on one side. Cathedral glass is ideal for windows and doors, because of how easily light passes through. It is often found in medieval European cathedrals, hence the name.
How is stained glass made?
Stained glass is made by joining glass pieces using lead/copper foils. So, if the glass looks so, it is real.
How to tell stained glass from plastic?
If you can distinguish the sound of glass from that of plastic, you can easily tell plastic from glass by tapping it with your fingernail.
How to identify antique stained glass?
Antique stained glass is valuable for a reason. Antique items are plagued by people that look to scam people. So it is necessary to distinguish antique stained glass from fake ones.
How can you tell how old stained glass windows are?
As we discussed before here are some good ways to tell the age of the stained glass.
How to value stained glass?
Usually the older the stained glass the more value it has. Antique stained glass pieces are bought for ridiculous prices by enthusiasts.
Why are antique stained glass windows so expensive?
Apart from this, there are also antique stained glass windows, lamps, etc. These are expensive especially due to their age.
Why is stained glass so expensive?
Some beginners/uninitiated might as why stained glass crafts are so expensive. It takes a lot of skill and mastery to craft stained glass.
What is stained glass?
Stained glass is also referred to as Art glass and comes in a multitude of colours. Stained glass is quite popular nowadays in household interior designs as it can provide a focal point while also acting as a piece of décor.
Why do stained glass windows stay together?
Stained glass windows are usually held together with the help of a strong frame to ensure that the many pieces of glass stay in place and don’t get dislodged.
How is fused glass formed?
Fused glass is formed when two or more pieces of glass are placed and fired in the kiln and heated until they fuse together into a single piece. Fusing generally requires multiple glass pieces to be used with a minimum of two pieces mandatory for any fusing procedure and involves moulding and manipulating glass inside a kiln. However, it’s imperative to bear in mind that while fusing multiple pieces of glass together, care must be taken to ascertain that the glass used is compatible with each other in order to avoid stress cracks and breakage.
Is it good to have different pieces of glass in your house?
Incorporating different and unique pieces of glass in the interiors of your house can be rewarding and fulfilling in equal measure, as it can not only brighten up your décor but also add a touch of class and a das h of colour to your otherwise dull interiors. Interiors devoid of colour and glass can be plain, boring and uninspiring.
Can fused glass be used for stained glass?
While fused glass can be used for stained glass windows, the reverse doesn’t stand true.
Overview
The term stained glass refers either to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional struct…
Glass production
During the late medieval period, glass factories were set up where there was a ready supply of silica, the essential material for glass manufacture. Silica requires a very high temperature to melt, something not all glass factories were able to achieve. Such materials as potash, soda, and lead can be added to lower the melting temperature. Other substances, such as lime, are added to rebuild the weakened network and make the glass more stable. Glass is coloured by adding met…
Colours
The primary method of including colour in stained glass is to use glass, originally colourless, that has been given colouring by mixing with metal oxides in its melted state (in a crucible or "pot"), producing glass sheets that are coloured all the way through; these are known as "pot metal" glass. A second method, sometimes used in some areas of windows, is flashed glass, a thin co…
"Pot glass" colours
These are the colours in which the glass itself is made, as opposed to colours applied to the glass.
Ordinary soda-lime glass appears colourless to the naked eye when it is thin, although iron oxide impurities produce a green tint which becomes evident in thick pieces or with the aid of scientific instruments. A number of additives ar…
Creating stained-glass windows
The first stage in the production of a window is to make, or acquire from the architect or owners of the building, an accurate template of the window opening that the glass is to fit.
The subject matter of the window is determined to suit the location, a particular theme, or the wishes of the patron. A small design called a Vidimus (from Lati…
History
Coloured glass has been produced since ancient times. Both the Egyptians and the Romans excelled at the manufacture of small colored glass objects. Phoenicia was important in glass manufacture with its chief centres Sidon, Tyre and Antioch. The British Museum holds two of the finest Roman pieces, the Lycurgus Cup, which is a murky mustard color but glows purple-red to transmi…
Buildings incorporating stained glass windows
Stained glass windows were commonly used in churches for decorative and informative purposes. Many windows are donated to churches by members of the congregation as memorials of loved ones. For more information on the use of stained glass to depict religious subjects, see Poor Man's Bible.
• Important examples
See also
• Architectural glass
• Architecture of cathedrals and great churches
• Art Nouveau glass
• Autonomous stained glass