The History of Stained Glass
Stained Glass has origins dating back to the development of glass making
in ancient Egypt in the second century B.C. The Greeks and Romans extensively
used mosaics made of pebbles and colored ceramic glass chips. The mosaic
art using ceramic glass chips flourished well into the 10th century
A.D. Stained glass as we know it today was first used in European religious
panels around the 11th century A.D. However, the craft fell into a period
of decline during the "Dark Ages", as did all the arts.
The colored "see through" type of stained glass is still known
today as "cathedral" stained glass. This was originally clear
glass which had a colored "stain" applied to it. The "stained"
glass was soon developed into a glass which had the stain incorporated
into the actual glass by adding metals and minerals to the molten glass
resulting in a tinted glass which we know today as "cathedral glass".
Stained glass windows were used in European cathedrals from the 1100's.
The use of stained glass expanded during the Renaissance period of art
revival of the 14th century and the building of grand cathedrals in
Europe during the 1400's through the 1700's. During this period, leaded
clear glass windows began to be used in some non-church construction,
however the use of stained glass outside the church was rare.
During the Victorian and Edwardian eras of the 1800's, stained glass
began to be used in non-religious windows of European chateaus. These
windows still used only the cathedral type of stained glass, however,
the colors began to change from traditional bright "royal"
colors used in church windows to using many "soft" colors
which were more appropriate for domestic windows. Stained glass made
a major advance in the late 1800's and early 1900's during the Art Nouveau
period when American glass makers expanded upon the European cathedral
glass by making a translucent "milky" glass known as opalescent
glass. The addition of opalescent glass significantly expanded the variety
of glass available for artists, and the art form began to expand. While
other "sub-types" of stained glass have been developed in
recent years, the two basic types of stained glass available today are
still cathedral and opalescent glass.
The Art Nouveau movement began around 1890 and continued into the early
1900's. During this period, Louis Tiffany (1848-1933) used stained glass
extensively in non-religious forms such as lamps and windows. Tiffany
also promoted the "copper foil" style of stained glass construction
which is so popular today. The copper foil method of construction uses
copper foil tape to wrap the edge of each piece of glass, which allows
each glass piece to be soldered to the adjoining glass pieces instead
of the old method which used lead came to join the pieces of glass.
The foil method of construction is lighter weight than using lead came
and also lets the artist use much smaller glass pieces, allowing more
detail in a stained glass work. The extremely fine detail of Louis Tiffany's
foiled stained glass work became a signature of Tiffany art glass.
The popularity of stained glass continued into the Art Deco period of
the late 1920's through the early 1940's and stylized stained glass
was incorporated into the architectural designs of many buildings. However,
like most art forms, the popularity of stained glass was slowed by the
worldwide depression of the 1930's and the Second World War in the 1940's.
During this period, stained glass was promoted by people such as architect
Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) in his modern Prairie art style, and
it continued as a "fringe" art form into the 1950's and early
60's.
Stained glass gained significant popularity in the late 1960's and early
1970's, this time as a hobby form of art. Environmental concerns over
"lead" in glass panels assembled with lead came also caused
most stained glass artists to adapt the copper foil method of construction
as the standard method of stained glass assembly. The mid-1990's brought
about another expansion of stained glass known as "Stained Glass
Mosaics", which combined the Stained Glass art with the art of
Mosaics. Prior to this time, stained glass had generally been used only
in windows or lamps, and mosaics had been limited to small ceramic tile
chips cemented onto floors, walls or ceilings.
Stained glass has high optical reflective qualities, a wide range of
colors, and can be easily cut into large exacting shapes. However, traditional
stained glass requires exact construction methods and is limited to
use in free standing items such as windows and lamps. Traditional mosaics
uses an easy construction method - "free form", and can be
applied to almost any surface. Mosaics, however, is restricted by the
small pieces of material, limited colors and poor optical quality of
ceramic chips. The new art form is a perfect union. Stained Glass Mosaics
combines the beauty and cutability of stained glass with the easy construction
method and unlimited use of mosaics. Stained glass mosaics are now used
on walls and floors in addition to stepping stones, fountains, vases,
plant holders and even lamps.