Glass - Stained Glass

What is Stained Glass?
Stained glass can refer to any coloured glass material. Stained glass is a craft which requires artistic skill to produce a potential design and the engineering skills to assemble the pieces.


When did it begin?
Coloured glass has been around for thousands of years, and was popular with Egyptians and Romans who manufactured small coloured glass objects. 
Stained glass windows are a major form of pictorial art, to have survived until today. The purpose of these windows is not to allow those within the building to see the outside world. Their purpose was to control the light rather than admitting it, they were named illuminated wall decorations.
The designs of stained glass windows are a mixture of figurative and non-figurative, some incorporate narratives from the Bible, history and literature. Some represent saints, patrons or use symbolic motifs. Within a church drawings from the Bible are popular, from the life of Christ. Within a parliament building, they may be shields of constituencies and within a college hall, flowers, landscapes or symbols representing science or art.


Stained Glass Techniques
There are three types of stained glass. Lead came, copper foil and glass mosaic.


Lead came is the more traditional process of making stained glass. Pieces of glass are cut and are fit into metal channelling, called cames. Cames are available in different sizes and metal types, although lead is the most common. Zinc, brass and copper can also be used. The came joints are soldered together to make the glass strong and durable.The lead came process is a great method for large patterns, but can be time consuming and hard work on large patterns. 

Copper foil is a simple method of stained glass, making it excellent for beginners. Glass is cut into the pattern pieces and the edges of each piece is covered with copper foil to allow the stained glass soldering process to adhere, which forms the stained glass pattern. Copper foil is a great method of stained glass for smaller areas such as window panels and lampshades.

Glass mosaic is a method for translucent affects. The stained glass is applied to clear glass  to give a stained glass look without any of the hassle.

Turkish Glass Mosaic Lanterns

The windows must fit snugly into the space in which it is made for, as well as resisting the elements and supporting its own weight. Many large windows from the late Middle Ages have withstood these factors and still remain today.