Most of us are amazed by how small pieces of color glasses could be formed to make a major piece of glass window. Anyone who had looked at a stained glass window in a century old church would be mesmerised by its design. Through the years, the design of stain color glass had taken many different forms.
The history of stained glass goes back to more than one thousand year ago. Churches, cathedrals, chapels and many other religious buildings would have stained glass windows. In was only during the Victorian era that stained glass found its popularity into ordinary homes and other commercial buildings.
Painted glasses are also another reference for stained glass. The many colors of stained glasses are produced by adding metallic oxides into the glass when it is still in its molten state. Most of the designs for stained glass windows would center on pictorial but not all designs are pictorial. A common repeating pattern is also popular.
Stained glass in the past are limited to churches only because of the high degree of craftsmanship required and only churches could employ such artisans. Not only are they a piece of art, they are quite an amazing engineering achievement too. It is certainly not so easy to put up many pieces of color glasses together and to ensure that they can withstand all sorts of weather condition.
In some parts of the world, windows made from stained glass are still standing today hundreds of years after they were created. It is also one of surviving major form of pictorial art. All stained glasses designs for windows carry a theme. Most of the times, the theme is based on bible, history and literature.
Cylinder glass techniques were made by collecting glass from the pot and formed into a molten ball and blown. This forms a large cylindrical shape of even diameter with even wall thickness. It will then be cut open, laid flat and made stable. The cylinder glass is the most common type of stained glass used in ancient stained glass windows.
In another technique called the crown glass technique, glass is partly blown into a hollow vessel. Then, it will be placed on a table that revolves and it is spun in a rapid manner. The molten glass will flatten and spread outwards. This is then cut into small pieces. These are usually used in small pane windows of the houses during the 16th and 17th century.
Different material are also used for both the glass and the color. For example, real gold is no longer used to produce red color glass. There are also many products that can give stain glass effect such as stick-on film, which is fast becoming popular among home owners.
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