Glass for artistic glazing

Sheets of the glass are produced in specialized glass factories. There are two main types of glass: antique (handcrafted) and rolled (machine produced).

The antique glass

The antique glass is considered to be a luxury material and is used mainly in monumental art and in exclusive glazing.
In this type of glass color is obtained by adding pigments to the molten glass. Typical sheets are approx. 3mm (1/8 ") thick and measure approx. 60x90 cm (24" x 36"). Characteristic features of antique glass are the subtle structure and the small round, sometime oval bubbles or seeds. Exposed to light, these glass display its inimitable transparency and brilliance.
Antique glass can be made in more than several thousands colors. Best producers as Glashuette Lamberts can even produce custom colors.
Antique glass can be categorized into three types - Mouth Blown Antique; Flashed Glass; and Drawn Antique. Mouth blown glass is the traditional way to produce a genuine antique glass. The method relies heavily on the craftsmanship of a master glassblower. This glass is made by blowing a large cylinder of glass. The ends of the cylinder are then cut off and the cylinder is split lengthwise and flattened to form the sheet.
Flashed Glass is a type of mouth blown antique glass that has two or more layers of different colored glasses. Usually a heavy heavy base layer is covered with a thin layer, a flash, of another color. This flash can be engraved, etched or sandblasted to create designs or the appearance of shading.
Craquel or Crackle Glass is mouth blown antique glass that has a unique texture on one side. Both Lamberts and St. Just produce this antique glass.
Drawn Antique Glass is produced like this: molten glass is drawn vertically from the furnace to produce the sheets of this type of glass. It is then passed through rollers as it cools which leaves striations in the surface of the glass. The resulting glass looks similar to mouth blown antique glass.

The rolled glass

The rolled glass is indispensable in lampshades and Tiffany type works. It is used in glazing of big areas (cathedral glass) and for typical works for homes. This kind of glass is popular due to the lower prices.
Sheets are colored in glass factories. There are several hundreds of colors in each factory. Some of the colors can have several types of texture. The thickness of rolled glass depends of producer. Usually it is 3mm (1/8 ").
Dimensions of the sheets are fixed. Maximum sizes are 1,20 m to 0,6 m, sometimes they are 1,0 m to 0,5 m.
Below are described some types of rolled glass:

Baroque Glass

It is produced by combining two glasses of different colors, and then stirring them together. Baroque is produced only by Spectrum Glass.

Cathedral Glass

Mostly made as a single color glass. This transparent glass is a machine made glass and comes in a variety of textures. Most glass factories produce cathedral glass, including Armstrong, Kokomo, Spectrum and Wissmach.

Drapery Glass

This opalescent type glass is formed by passing hot sheets of glass through machine rollers. The top roller moves faster than the bottom roller so the glass bunches up forming a drapery effect. Uroboros Glass produces drapery glass.

Fractures and Streamers

The fractures are thin pieces of glass that are created by breaking thin glass bubbles into small pieces. The streamers are thin rods of molten glass that are stretched. These fractures and streamers are spread on the rolling table and become fused to the back of sheets of clear or white opal glass. This produces a glass that is a multi-colored collage. Bullseye and Uroboros Glass produce this type of glass.

Glue Chip Glass

A glass that is sandblasted on one side. Animal hide glue is applied to the roughened surface. As the glue dries and contracts, chips of glass are pulled off the sandblasted surface creating the pattern.

Iridescent Glass

This glass has a front surface that looks like mother-of-pearl. The highly reflective surface characteristic of this type of glass can be found on both cathedral and opalescent glass.

Mottled Glass

This type of glass is typical for Tiffany. It has a characteristic ring of opalescence, also called ring mottle, which gives the glass a three dimensional appearance.

Opalescent Glass

This is a dense glass that allows little light to pass through. Opalescent glass gets its opacity from the adding of fluorine to the glass. White opal glass is actually a clear glass that had fluorine added to it. Multi-color opalescent glass consists of two or more colors added together.

Stipple Glass

This is an opalescent-type glass that has an icy or waxy look to it. Stipple was created by Youghiogheny to recreate the look of Tiffany.

Seedy Glass

Type of cathedral glass that contains lots of tiny round bubbles.

Textured Glass

Cathedral glasses are available in many different classes of textures. Textured glass is available in clear and a variety of colored glasses.

Waterglass®

This glass resembles a shimmering texture of rippled water. It is created by stretching a sheet of hot pliable glass. This produces a glass which resembles the surface of water. Waterglass® is produced exclusively by Spectrum Glass.

Glass producers.

Antique glass is produced in Poland in Jaslo, in Germany in Waldsassen, in France in Saint Just.
Best known producers of rolled glass are in USA: Spectrum Glass, Youghiogheny, Bullseye, Armstrong, Kokomo, Wissmach, Uroboros Glass.

 

(to the techniques and products specification)