What is that glass I see?

As I'm learning about art glass, I have found it interesting and useful to identify some of the types of art glass and understand something about the glass making process.

I had the opportunity to see art glass being made at Kokomo Opalescent Glass Company in Kokomo, Indiana this summer. KOG has been making glass at this location since 1888. They sell glass all over the world and are the only company that produces opalescent varieties with five colors mixed together into one sheet of glass. You can see the process for yourself through the online tour on their web site Kokomo plant tour . Every glass company has its own proprietary formulas for their glass and these formulas are closely guarded secrets.

Types of Art Glass

These are only some of the types of art glass available, but probably the most common ones a beginning stained glass crafter will be using.

Antique...glass made since the middle ages, it is characterized by delicate textural striations which give the glass a delicate light refraction quality and subtle background distortion. The traditional way to produce full antique glass is mouth blowing. Today some automated techniques produce semi-antique and drawn-antique glass.

Baroque...produced by two glasses of different compositions being stirred together in bold swirling patterns.

Bevels...usually thick clear or glue chip glass pieces which edges have been ground to an angle other than 90°, reflecting light with prism-like effects. Bevels come in a variety of sizes and shapes.

Cathedral...a single color glass that may be flat or textured. Common texture patterns include hammered, granite, ripple, seedy and water.

Glue Chip...clear or colored glass with a surface texture similar to frost on a window.

Iridescent...a thin layer of metallic salts bonded to cathedral or opalescent glass during sheet forming. This process creates a colorful, reflective surface effect.

Jewels...glass formed to simulate faceted stones, either pressed of hand cut. Jewels come in round, square, oval or teardrop shapes and a variety of colors. They are frequently used as accents in Victorian window designs.

Mottled...known as being the most difficult to create and most identifiable with Tiffany. It has a ring of opalescence giving it a three dimensional effect.

Opalescent...one to five colors mixed with white opal glass to produce a variegated glass with varying degrees of light transmission.

Seedy...a type of cathedral glass in which small air bubbles are trapped.

Waterglass...a translucent glass with a surface texture resembling ripples on water.

The best site I found to describe types of glass is a listing by M&M Stained Glass at glass types . The listing describes more types of glass and has links to various companies that produce art glass.

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