Glass has always attracted the artist

Detail of Art Nouveau Glasswork on the Community House, Prague, Czech Republic Photographic Print
Hodson, Jonathan
18 in. x 24 in.
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Framed Mounted

Glass is made of silica and metallic oxides, or, more simply, of sand, soda and lime, which are fused together. Glass has always attracted the artist, since in its molten state it is very malleable and will readily take colour. It can be blown, moulded, treated with various tools and further decoration fused to it.

By a variety of techniques, glass can be made colourless, given a single colour or several colours. Thin threads of glass can be used to produce the so-called 'twist stem'; this can be elaborated into the 'lace twist', the 'spiral gauze' and many other forms. If the thin threads in the stem are coloured, the result is known as a 'colour twist stem; if both opaque and coloured, a 'mixed twist stem', and so on. If glass rods of different colours are fused together, cut across and melted into plain glass, the resulting effect is called millefiore (literally 'a thousand flowers').

The bestknown examples of this kind are the paper-weights of the 19th century. Often, vessels of plain glass are coated -- or 'flashed' -- with a thin layer of coloured glass, a technique more common on the Continent (Bohemian red glass, red 'Biedermeier' glasses, etc.) than in England. Glass can be painted in enamel colours and gilt, or it can be decorated on the lapidary's wheel, with the diamond point or etched with acids. Glass pastes, as substitutes for jewellery, were already known in Ancient Egypt in the 3rd millennium B.C. Technical improvements led to a mature phase of the glass-maker's art in the Hellenistic period and in Imperial Rome.

The Roman tradition was continued by the glassmakers of Islam, who decorated glass with enamels and carvings. The Venetians took up Eastern techniques in the 15th century, developed them and were soon in advance of all their competitors. Venetian coloured glass has held a leading place ever since. It was the Venetian goblet that replaced the simple beaker of plain green glass which had either been decorated with punts or with coats of arms, mottoes and figures -- usually enamelled. Glass cutting and facetting flourished during the Baroque and Rococo periods in Germany, Holland and the British Isles. Lead and flint glass, richly facetted, was mostly made in England and Ireland ( Bristol, Waterford), flashing was mostly practised in Bohemia, enamelling in England ( Bristol) and France. After a decline in the second half of the 19th century, the advent of Art Nouveau brought about a revival of glass-making.

Three French artists, in particular, Brocard, E. Rousseau and Gallé began experimenting with glass colouring and decorating and were the forerunners of contemporary French artists. In recent times it is Scandinavian glassware which is of outstanding importance. The Orrefors factory is celebrated for high quality glass designed by Edvald Hald and Simon Gate. The endless possibilities of glass are only now beginning to be realized. A particularly interesting use is being made of the material by architects.

GLASS PICTURES

Glass pictures are paintings on the back of a glass panel. In contrast to stained glass windows, they are not meant to be looked at with the light shining through them, but as ordinary paintings. The usual practice is just to draw or engrave the outlines, then to fill in the individual portions with brilliant colours. The picture is often backed with metal foil, which further increases its characteristic charm. This form of art dates from as early as the 4th century A. D. But its great triumphs did not come until after 1500, when it was practised throughout Europe, mostly to meet the demand for devotional pictures. But the 17th and 18th centuries saw a decline in the glass picture, which degenerated into a mass-produced article. It was rescued from this state by peasant artists, who, using simple outlines and vigorous colours, turned it into a branch of popular art. It attained its greatest importance in this new form in southern Germany, Bohemia and Silesia, although it is by no means unknown elsewhere.