Visual Glossary of Glass Terms #Reel
Published: February 28, 2022
There are so many types of glass and words that describe them. Not sure what they all mean? We're going to break it down with our visual glossary of glass terms.
Glossary of Glass Terms
Architectural Glass
Produced in large sheets and characterized by consistent color (often clear) and texture, architectural glass is ideal for large installations.
Art Glass
Created by hand ladling and mixing molten glass, each piece is unique and may vary considerably throughout a sheet, and from one sheet to the next.
Aventurine
Metallic looking chips of mica create a sparkling, "glittery" looking glass.
Cathedral/Transparent
The terms cathedral and transparent are used interchangeably. Available in a wide variety of colors and textures, it is glass that you can see through and allows complete light transmission.
Double Rolled
A smooth glass with very little texture, double rolled glass is created by using a double set of rollers during production.
Fracture-Streamers
Paper-thin shards and curving glass threads on clear or white background.
Chopstix
Made of random pieces of straight stringers that are scattered over a clear background creating a bold, graphical glass.
Glue Chip
A cathedral glass with a surface pattern created by glue that is applied to the surface during the manufacturing process, it is often described as "Jack Frost" or "Fern Glass" and used extensively as a background glass.
Mardi Gras
Festive glass that combines frit (rock-salt sized glass granules) and streamers (threads of glass) on a clear background.
Mottled
Translucent glass with opaque spots of color, mottled glass can contain one or more colors per sheet, and is well suited to organic imagery.
Opal/Opalescent
The terms opal and opalescent are used interchangeably, and are used to describe glass that can range from completely opaque (glass you cannot see through) to semi-opaque. Opalescent glass may be a single color, or contain multiple colors.
Rolled Edges
Also referred to as "ends", rolled edges are the irregular, slightly thicker edges of a sheet of art glass.
Semi-Antique/Antique and Restoration
These terms are used to describe glass presenting characteristics of old glass, especially mouth-blown glass sheets. Glass features slight textures, ranging from seeds (tiny air bubbles), to linear striations.
Stipple
Stipple glass captures the waxy, ice-like look of the authentic Tiffany style. It uses crystalline to disperse light, allowing color to come through the glass unaltered by the opal.
Streaky
Contains two or more colors that are swirled together, creating streaks of color, streaky glass can range from transparent to opaque.
Wispy
A clear or cathedral glass containing wisps of white glass like thin cloud trails.
Translucent
Often referred to as "milky", translucent glass allows some light transmission, and is a popular selection for lamps and windows when some privacy is desired.
Note: Translucency refers to the degree of light transmission, as affected by the proportion of opal, white or color, in the glass. Actual light transmission is also related to the color intensity and texture of the glass.
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