Glass is a substance that has gas, liquid, and solid state properties. It is actually a super-cooled liquid more than anything, which can capture light and glows from within. This jewel-like substance is created from the most common of materials: sand, transformed by fire. No record of the earliest glass-making exists. Most likely early man discovered that by adding metallic salts and oxides to molten glass, specific portions of the white light spectrum could be captured, allowing the human eye to distinguish colors. Gold produces a stunning cranberry, cobalt makes blue, silver creates yellow and gold, and copper makes green and brick red.
Stained glass refers not only to the colored glass, but also to the artistic craft itself. Techniques of stained glass window construction were described by the monk Theophilus, who recorded maybe the first “how to” manual for craftsmen around 1100 AD. This record describes methods that have changed little in the ensuing years.
“If you want to assemble simple windows, first mark out the dimensions of their length and breadth on a wooden board, then draw scroll work or anything else that pleases you, and select colors that are to be put in. Cut the glass and fit the pieces together with the grozing iron. Enclose them with lead cames…and solder on both sides. Surround it with a wooden frame strengthened with mails and set it up in the place where you wish.”
The greatest venue for these translucent pictures was in the cathedrals of Gothic Europe. Abbot Suger rebuilt his church, the Abbey of St. Denis, into one of the first examples of the Gothic style. He brought in craftsmen to make the glass and kept a journal of what was done. He believed that the beauty of sunlight through stained glass would lift men’s souls and bring them closer to God. Gothic stained glass windows were a complex mosaic of colored glass, joined by lead, and illustrating biblical stories.
Medieval craftsmen tended toward illustration of an idea, rather than specific depiction of it. They used rich, bright colors, blended with softer hues, and muted neutral colors. Some paint work was crude, using a dark brown enamel, called grisaille, matted to the glass surface to delineate the features. By the 15th Century, the stained glass illustrations became more like painted and framed pictures, rather than abstract illustrations. The use of silver stain allowed the artist to produce realistic yellow hair and golden garments.
The true Renaissance of stained glass making didn’t occur until the late 1800’s when John LaFarge and Louis Tiffany independently developed the process of substituting thin strips of copper for lead, allowing for more intricate, light-weight sections that could be placed together in infinite patterns, and the Tiffany lamp was born. They employed the plating, or layering of glass, to achieve depth and texture. In our time, stained glass making has become a hobby craft that flourishes anew and has introduced yet another golden age in glass.
Now we are able to enjoy this creativity in our homes with table lamps, floor lamps and desk lamps that are inspired by these artisans.
