Flash glass

Window with Eight Apostles, the Pieta and other Saints: MFA# 25.213

Description

A sheet of clear Glass dipped in molten colored glass to produce a thin, colored coating on one side. Flash glass was prepared in the 13th century using with very thin films of densely colored Ruby glass. Other colors of flash glass were prepared with vitreous coatings of metallic oxides. The degree of transparency depended on the thickness of the coating layer. Additional colors were obtained by grinding away portions of the flashed layer and by staining the abraded areas with silver salts. Examples of early flash glass are found in the church at Mussy-sur-Seine in France.

Synonyms and Related Terms

flashed glass; vidro de dupla camada (Port.); laminated glass; case glass; covered glass; coated glass; doubled glass; stained glass; ruby glass

Resources and Citations

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "stained glass" [Accessed May 5, 2004].