Silver stain

Description

A solution of silver oxide used to color glass. Silver stain is painted onto the glass surface, dried, then fired to produce a bright yellow tone. It was developed in the Near East in medieval times and brought to Europe by the 14th century (Mayer 1969). It was superseded by the use of vitreous enamels on glass in the 16th century.

Synonyms and Related Terms

yellow stain; colorant à l'argent (Fr.) ; giallo d'argento (It.); amarelo de prata (Port.)

Resources and Citations

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

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

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000