PITCHER IN ‘AGATA’ GLASS, VASE IN “SECOND GRIND’ POMONA GLASS WITH BLUEBERRY DECORATION, VASE IN IRIDESCENT GLASS
PITCHER IN ‘AGATA’ GLASS
New England Glass Company, U.S.A., after 1885.
Ht. 101 mm (7-5 in.)
‘Agata’: Joseph Locke secured the patent
for the making of ‘Agata’ glass shortly
after 1885. According to his patent, it was
made in the following way. The object to
DC decorated was first partially or wholly
coated with a metallic stain of the desired
colour. The part that was stained was
spattered, or had applied to it a volatile
liquid such as benzene, alcohol or naphtha.
When the volatile liquid evaporated, it
left a mottled surface on the glass, which
was fixed to it by firing in a muffle kiln.
The result was an all-over pattern sug-
gestive of a fanciful golden spider-web on
the glass. Sometimes so-called ‘oil spots’
of a blackish-blue colour appear within
the pattern. This type of decoration is
more usually found on glossy pieces than
on matt-finished ones. The New England
(ilass Company, Mass., produced Agata
glass, mostly confined to decorating their
Wild Rose Peach Blow ware.
VASE IN “SECOND GRIND’ POMONA GLASS WITH
BLUEBERRY DECORATION
New England Glass Company, U.S.A., 1886 r .
III. 121 mm (475 in.)
‘Pomona’ glass was yet another invention
of Joseph Locke’s for the New England
Glass Company. His first patent, issued
in 1885, referred to what is now called
‘first grind’ Pomona, and involved cover-
ing the glass with an acid-resistant coating
carved with thousands of minutely en-
graved lines in the parts where a frosted
appearance was required. When the piece-
was plunged into acid, this cut into the
lines, producing the frosted effect once
the acid-resist was removed. Locke-
achieved a cheaper alternative in his
second patent of 1886, now called ’second
grind’ Pomona. To produce a stippled or
frosted ground, the area required was
covered with a thin layer of some finely
pulverised acid-resisting powder; this
adhered to a thin layer of oil or varnish.
All parts of the vessel protected by these
fine particles were not affected by the acid
bath, which produced a fine stippling
over the body of the article. Pomona
glassware was decorated with amber, blue
and rose-coloured stains.
‘Royal Flemish’: The patent for ‘Royal
Flemish’ glassware was issued to Albert
Stcftin in 1894. Raised gold-enamelled
lines divided the glass article into sections,
which were later coloured to give an
appearance rather like a stained glass
window. The different segments were
painted in transparent enamels in con-
trasting colours, usually brown, beige and
gold. The background of this glass is acid-
finished to give a matt appearance. Royal
Flemish glassware was manufactured by
the Mt. Washington Glass Company,
New Bedford, Mass., about 1890, several
years before the patent was registered. It
is noted for its painted enamels with the
designs in high relief, the old Roman
motif medallions often being used, as in
the jar illustrated. Designs include winged
creatures, cherubs and ‘guba-ducks’.
Sometimes Royal Flemish is marked with
‘RF’, the initial ‘R’ being reversed to the
initial ‘F’, and enclosed in a four-sided
diamond, orange-red in colour.
‘Feloton’ glass was patented in 1880 by
Wilhelm Kralik of Newclt, in Bohemia.
According to his specifications a gather of
glass would be dipped or immersed —
cither before or after it was worked into
shape— into a container that held filaments
or threads of coloured glass, this being
continued until sufficiently adhered to the
metal. He stated that these filaments could
be thrown on to the hot paraison, or the
paraison could be rolled on a surface where
the filaments lay, in order to catch them
up. The article would be reheated at the
glory-hole until the filaments became
homogeneous with the original body of the
glass, and it would then be pressed or hand-
tooled to the desired shape. Clear, coloured
and opaque white backgrounds were used.
Sometimes the finished article would be
given an acid bath for a satin finish.
Occasionally, heavy enamelled surface
decoration was added to give a more ‘busy’
effect.
‘Onyx’ glass was produced by the Dalzcll,
Gilmore, Leighton Company, Findlay,
Ohio, from about 1880; it was in this year
that George W. Leighton of Findlay
secured the patent for the firm. Prom the
Specifications il is apparent that “onyx’
glass was made from a sensitive mix con-
taining metallic constituents capable of
producing silver, ruby and other lustres.
The colours were made In subjecting the
glass to heat and gaseous fumes. Lustre
colours applied to the patterns are usually
in contrast to the main bod) ol the piece.
A moulding process was used that involved
two moulds, one lor pattern, one for
ultimate size and shape. Owing to the
difficulty of the technique, il is rare for any
two similar-shaped pieces to be of ihe
same shade. Rough rims arc quite com-
monplace in onyx glassware, since fire-
polishing these extremities could have
caused the sensitive material to change
colour; the rims were therefore cut and
ground to a tolerable smoothness.
K. Varnish, London. England, about 1850
I II 134 mm (o in.)
Silvered Glass: li was not until F. Hale
Thomson’s patent for silvered glass that a
satisfactory and reasonably economic
method of producing it was successfully
introduced. The British patent for the
production of this glass in quantity was
taken out in December, 1841) by Hale
Thomson and Edward Varnish, the piece
illustrated being made by E. Varnish of
I .ondon in about 1850. The goblet consists
of two layers ol glass, with silver mercury
applied to the back of the glass. The silver
has not discoloured, since goblets made b)
Varnish were permanently sealed. In
addition to a clear outer layer of glass, a
coloured transparent outer casing was also
used; this was carved through, to reveal
the silver-reflecting inner layer. Silvered
glass was made in various parts of Europe,
but Varnish was undoubtedly the best
exponent of the technique. Varnish, Hale
Thomson and others used a stamped
metallic disc J-inch in diameter, embedded
underfoot to mark the factory name on the
piece.
Glass with silver decoration was popular
from the last quarter of the 19th century
to just after the First World War. Several
means of depositing silver and other metals
on glass were patented in the last half of
the 19th century, the most notable being
those of Oscar Pierre Krard, a Frenchman
residing in England, and John H. Scharl-
ing of the U.S.A. Erard produced such
exceptional items as the jug illustrated lor
Stevens & Williams of Brierley Hill,
England. In 1889 he and John Benjamin
Round patented their method for electro-
depositing gold, silver, copper and other
metallic designs on glass, porcelain and
earthenware. They prepared a special flux
containing silver, which was formed into
a wash by being mixed with turpentine.
The design was painted on the glass in this
wash and was then fired in a kiln. The
article was placed in a solution of the
particular metal required, and an electric
current caused this to be deposited on the
glass.
Iridescent Glass: From 1863, when Ludwig
Lobmeyer exhibited the first iridescent
glass to be commercially produced in the
19th century, numerous patents were filed
for methods of making this attractive
glassware. The object was to imitate the
iridescence found on ancient pieces of
glass as a result of burial. In 1877 Thomas
Wilkes Webb of Stourbridge, England
was issued with a patent. The secret of his
method lay in the use of a closed muffle
furnace, where the fumes from the evapor-
ation of tin and other metallic salts were
allowed to come into contact with the
surface of the glass vessel. The hot surface
of the glass has an affinity to the acids being
used, thus causing them to remain perm-
anently attached to the glass. The result is
a rainbow-hued, mirror-like appearance.
In 1878 the patent was amplified to include
a fine crackled effect, in conjunction with
iridescence on the surface of the glass.
Patents for iridescent glassware continued
to be registered until the 1800’s, then for
a short time this ware was made only
sporadically. After 1000 the technique
took on a new lease of life both in the
U.S.A. and on the Continent. The best-
known makers of iridescent glassware in
the U.S.A. in the early 20th century were
Tiffany Furnaces, the Quezal Art Glass &
Decorating Company, the Durand Art
Glass Company, the Union Glass Works,
and the Steuben Glass Works. The last-
named produced iridescent glassware
under the trade name ‘Aurene’, which was
granted to Frederick Carder, Samuel
llawkes and W. II. Hawkes of the firm in
Corning, New York, in 1004. Fred Car-
der’s ‘Aurene’ and ‘Verre de Soie’ glass
ranks very highly. He introduced the
technique of spraying the heated glass in
a muffle kiln with a solution of tin crystals
dissolved in distilled water, which attacked
the surface, causing a shining, iridescent
effect.
‘Verre de Soie’, which translated means
literally ‘glass of silk’, shows the iridescent
finish just described. As in the case of the
example illustrated, practically all the
ware is of a soft grey-white appearance.
Occasionally, a very pale green colour is
added in the manufacture. Frederick
Carder, who had been co-founder of the
Steuben works in 1903, looked after most
aspects of the firm’s glass-making until
igi8, when the plant was sold to the
Corning Glass Works. 1 le continued as art
director until 1034, producing a massive
range of new art glassware. Besides the
glasses mentioned, he was responsible for
such specialities as Jade glass, Cluthra
glass, Cintra glass, Acid Cutback, lvrene,
Calcite glass, Intarsia glass, Bubbly glass,
Paperweight glass. Moss Agate glass,
Millcfiori glass, Rouge Flambe glass, and
others.
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1934) de-
veloped many unique forms of art glass,
including iridescent ware. With Arthur J.
Nash and his sons A. Douglas and Leslie
Nash, he set up a factory at Corona, Long
Island, New York. Between the years 1894
and 1920 Tiffany’s registered several trade
marks. Leslie Nash, an accomplished glass
technologist, was granted a partnership in
the Tiffany In maces for his creation of the
‘Peacock’ Iridescent Glassware, which
made Tiffany’s world-famous. It should
be noted that it was also he who developed
‘Cypriote’ glassware for Mr. Tiffany. This
glass, an example of which is shown here,
was an imitation of the pearly and pimpled
effect one sometimes finds on the surface
of ancient pieces of glass that have been
buried for a long period. Tans and blues
are used most frequently as colours for
‘Cypriote’, and the surface looks as if it
were constructed of groups of minute
burst bubbles, the size of pinheads.
Tiffany Furnaces made single-colour iri-
descent glassware in which the surface is
broken up into thousands of fractures that
split ordinary daylight into rainbow col-
ours. They also decorated their iridescent
glass with trails from marvered-in coloured
fibres of glass. The quality of the wares
was enhanced by shapes to complement
the decoration; these include flower forms
such as bulbous tulips, or lily tops on long
stems and wide bases. ‘Lava’ glass is
usually found in deep blue and iridescent
gold glass, as in the example shown. A
splotchy iridescent gold is also found
amongst the deep blue. Tiffany became
famous for many other forms of art glass,
particularly for his Paperweight glass,
Agate, Marbleised ware, Cameo Glass,
Intaglio, Millefiori and Diatreta ware.
Other Tiffany products, apart from vessel
glass, were stained glass windows, mosaics,
enamels, jewellery with iridescent glass
and lamps with shades of floral or insect
design.
VASE IN IRIDESCENT GLASS
J. Ltttz Witwe, Austria, aboui iuoo
in pair de verre
Henri Cros, France, late ii|ih centur) ‘early aoth
». en tun
Some excellent iridescent glassware was
made, during its revived popularity, by the
Austrian firm of Ldtz (Loetz of Austria),
also known as L6tZ Witwe of Klastcrsky
\ll\n. The shapes and surface iridescence
show great similarity to some of the best
American iridescent glass products, not-
ably those of Tiffany furnaces. A com-
bination of iridescent and glossy finishing,
however, is usually restricted to Lbtz, and
is not seen on any Tiffany pieces. Other
makers of fine iridescent glassware were
the Quczal Art Glass & Decorating Com-
pany already mentioned, founded b>
Martin Bach (formerly an employee of
Tiffany Furnaces), in Brooklyn, New
York. The Durand Art Glass Company
produced beautiful iridescent glass at its
factory in Vineland, New Jersey. Late-
pressed iridescent glassware was produced
notably by the Northwood Company of
Wheeling, West Virginia, and Indiana,
Pennsylvania, the Fcnton Art Glass Works
of Williamstown. West Virginia, and the
Imperial Glass Company ol Belaire, Ohio.
Pale de verre, which was known in
antiquity, was revived in modern times by
the Frenchman Henri Cms (1840-1907).
The making of pate de verre is a technique
which lies somewhere between pottery and
glass-making whereby a plastic material of
powdered glass can be made into sculp-
tural forms or vessels by a process of
moulding. Henri Cros started his career as
a sculptor and painter, but was continually
fascinated by ancient techniques, so he
combined both arts in producing models
in coloured wax as craftsmen did in the
16th century. He evidently wished to
discover a plastic substance which could
be used for polychrome sculpture, so he
set to work to discover the lost secret of
plastic glass or pate de verre. It was only
after many years that he found a com-
position of powdered glass that could be
coloured and moulded. At home, and later
at the Sevres factory, he conducted
numerous experiments, and finally suc-
cessfully produced his own pale de verre.
Between 1893 and 1903 Henri Cros
produced a famous series of reliefs in
several colours in pate de verre. To produce
them, he placed in a hollow mould of
refractory clay a mixture of powdered
glass and other constituents in a soft pasty
condition, which was allowed to dry for a
time. It was then fused in a muffle furnace,
the mould breaking away, and the baked
shape was then ready to be polished or
wiped clean. The exact constituents or
how they were worked were never dis-
cussed by Henri Cros; the only informa-
tion he disclosed was that he used ‘un-
coloured powders made from blocks of
glass produced in crucibles’ which was
something of an over-simplification. His
son Jean was the only person to directly
follow in his footsteps, producing works in
pale de verre in his style. Dammouse,
Dccorchcmont and the rest found their
own individual interpretations of pate de
verre.
Albert Dammouse (1848 1926) was a
potter at the Sevres factory and began
experimenting with small vessels in pale
de verre in 1898. The material he used was
a soft enamel paste somewhere between
soft porcelain and glass, basically different
from that used by Henri Cros. The
products had a slight translucency. He
moulded this material into fragile vessels
with delicate flowers in pastel shades. It
could be said of his work that he showed
off the technique of pate de verre to the
best advantage and achieved the finest
harmony between form and material in the
vases he produced. Another worker in
pate de verre who deserves a mention is
Georges Despret (1862-1952); in the
Exhibition in Paris in 1900, he showed
some small bowls in ‘natural’ shapes, of a
heavier pate de verre in dark shades.
Despret’s pate de verre was a dense, almost
opaque, yet richly coloured paste, remin-
iscent of precious stones, which was some-
times engraved. Emile Galle also occasion-
ally made objects in pate de verre.
By Francois Decorchemont, France, i.iuio
Hi. 178 mm (7 in.)
From 1904, Francois Decorchemont dedi-
cated himself completely to the making of
vessels in pale de verre. He had been
originally a painter and potter, but found
the medium of pale de verre more satisfy-
ing. In his early work he used to put his
paste in the mould until it dried sufficiently
to be removed, then he proceeded to shape-
it as a potter did, and bred it in a muffle
furnace. In his later work he never re-
moved the paste from the mould, with
much better results. His first works were
made in a fine but opaque substance which
was rather grey and dull. It was only after
he returned from the First World War,
towards 1920, that he discovered the
formula for a hard, translucent material,
made up of silica and oxide colouring
agents in entirely new proportions. This
material was placed in a mould based on a
plaster model, the thickness being regu-
lated throughout.
vase in green pale de verre
By Francois Decorchemont. France, 1930
Hi. 162 mm (6-38 in.)
Decorchemont’s paste was baked for a
matter of 20 hours in an oil furnace he had
designed on the same lines as an oil lamp.
It was allowed to cool slowly, before being
removed from the mould, and then the
parts that were to look bright against a dull
background were polished. Until 1914 he
had made small vessels decorated with
animal or plant motifs in Art Nouveau
style. Between the wars he continued his
work in pate de verre, which differed from
that of other makers in that he worked with
a fairly heavy material, reminiscent of
natural stone in consistency and colouring.
He moulded this into plain shapes, at
times somewhat hard and angular in
outlines. The vase illustrated, in green
pate de verre, is an excellent example.
When his glasses were exhibited in 1925,
the Recorder of the Glass Section, Antonin
Daum, commented on their ’style, their
form and their sober magnificence’. In
later years Decorchemont did some ex-
quisite sculptural work, which in both
material and shape is reminiscent of jade.
plaque in white vitreous paste depicting
oliver cromw ell
Tassic. England, r.1700. Ht. 152-5 mm (6 in.)
James Tassie (1735-99), his nephew
William (1777-1860), and their successor
(from 1840) John Wilson, made original
portraits and copies of engraved gems in a
white vitreous paste related to pate de verre.
James Tassie was born at Pollokshaws,
near Glasgow, and began his career as a
stonemason. He learnt how to make casts
of engraved gems in glass paste from Dr.
Henry Quin of Dublin and in 1767
established himself in London, where he,
and later William and John Wilson, pro-
duced their medallions, casts and reliefs in
white and coloured paste. Tassie’s medium
was a finely powdered potash-lead glass or
pate de verre, which was first softened by
heating. When fully plastic, the glass was
pressed into a plaster of Paris mould,
which had the impression of the subject
being reproduced on its inner surface.
When an original portrait relief was being
made, a wax impression was first modelled,
from which a plaster mould was then made.
finger bowl and plate in ‘tortoise-shell’ glass
About 1880. Ht. 102 mm (4 in.)
‘Tortoise-SkeW Class was made in both
the U.S.A. and Europe. The ware has a
glossy finish, and the brown mottling is
enclosed between two layers of glass. An
interesting description of the process is
given by a German chemist, Francis Pohl
of Silesia, who received provisional pro-
tection only on a patent registered on
October 25, 1880. Several bubbles of
different shades of brown glass were
blown and then broken into small pieces.
Next, a bubble of plain glass was blown
and cut round the middle, leaving the
lower portion adhering to the blow-pipe.
While this was being done another bubble
of plain glass was being blown and rolled
in the fragments of brown glass, which
were carefully marvered in. This bubble
was inserted in the cut-off upper portion of
the first bulb, and the two were blown
together. The bulb was then reheated and
blown into the required article.
Steuben Glass Works. U.S.A., early 20th century
Ht 254 mm (10 in.)
Cluthra Class: Fred ( .arder of the Steuben
Glass Works of New York was responsible
for many developments in the coloured
glass field. Steuben depended wholly on
its sales of coloured glass to stay in busi-
ness, so vast ranges of colours and a great
variety of shapes were available. One ol
Fred Carder’s developments was the so-
called Cluthra glass, which is a partially
transparent, two-layered glass. The exam-
ple shown is the most common shape in
the Cluthra line. Between the two layers of
glass small air pockets in the centre of
white splotches have been introduced by
the use of chemicals; the air pockets are
slightly off-centre of the white marks.
Cluthra comes in single colours as well as
in shaded pieces; sometimes the pieces arc-
signed. The Kimball Glass Company,
Vineland, New Jersey, also produced a
cluthra-type glass. Knglish Gray Stan
glass, produced in the 1920’s, likewise-
made use of Cluthra decoration.
VASE IN ‘INTARSIA’ GIASS
Hy Frederick (larder. Steuben Cilass Works.
U.S.A., late 1920s early 1930*5
Ht. 15a mm (6 in.)
‘Intarsiu’ glass, made at the Steuben Glass
Works, Corning, New York, in the late
1920’s and early 1930’s, was considered by
Frederick Carder to be his greatest achieve-
ment in artistic glass-making. The name-
was probably derived from mlarsiatura, a
type of 15th-century Italian marquetry.
1 n tarsia pieces are made up of three livers
two clear, colourless layers encasing a layer
of coloured glass which forms the design.
To make a piece such as the one illustrated.
Carder would blow a bubble of clear
colourless glass and case this with a thin
layer of coloured glass. This was allowed
to cool, and a design was etched through
the outer coloured casing. A further gather
of clear, colourless glass was then taken up,
which sealed in the coloured design. The
bubble was then blown to the required
shape—usually a vase or a bowl, though a
few wine-glasses were made.
Powdered Glass Decoration: In 1806, John
Davenport of” the Davenport firm at
Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, England, pa-
tented ‘A New Method of Ornamenting
of all Kinds of Glass in Imitation of
Engraving or Etching, by Means of which
Borders, Cyphers, Coats of Arms, Draw-
ings, and the Most Elaborate Designs may
be Executed in a Stile of Elegance’. A thin
coating of a powdered glass paste was laid
upon the surface of the glass, and a pointed
tool was used to scrape off the coating into
the desired pattern. The glass was then
light!) fired, so that the decoration fused
with the surfaceof the glass. The ornamen-
tation does not really resemble engraving
or etching, but is entirely pleasing. It is
presumed that this patent refers to a group
<il glasses, with the word ‘Patent’ inscribed
on their bases, which arc decorated with a
\anety of patterns, including heraldic-
insignia, and elaborate sporting scenes
with costumed figures dating to the
beginning of the century.
Decorative Inclusions: Apsley Pellatt
(1791-186?) established a glass-house in
Kalcon Street, Southwark, in London. He
was interested in the French process <il
‘cameo incrustations’, or objects contain-
ing ’sulphides’. In 1819 he patented
several methods of embedding small white-
paste figures in clear glass. The process,
which he first called ‘crystallo ceramic-’,
then ‘cameo incrustations’, involved the
enclosing of medallions and ornaments ol
pottery ware, metal or refractory material
in glass. The ornament was pre-heated
then covered with the hot glass; some
difficulties were encountered, due to the
differing rates of contraction and acci-
dental air bubbles. He decorated many
objects in this technique, including paper-
weights, decanters, smelling bottles, wine
glasses, girandoles and plaques. As in the
cup illustrated, the glass vessels were often
finished by fine cutting. The process was
apparently first used in Bohemia in the
mid-18th century, and was later developed
by the French factories such as Baccarat
and Clichy.
The making of objects in crystallo ceramie
has been previously attributed to Bohemia
from the 13th, 16th and late 18th cen-
turies. However, most Bohemian examples
of the technique seem to date to the first
half of the iqth century. Dionysus Lardner
in his treatise on glass-making dated 1832
said that cameo incrustation was first
attempted about 50 years before (that is,
about 1780) by a Bohemian glass manufac-
turer. His success was indifferent, for
‘the material of which he made choice for
his figures, expanded and contracted very
unequally with the surrounding glass, and
their adhesion to it was consequently
imperfect’. Lardner later spoke of the
success of the Frenchmen Saint Amans
and Desprez and of the Englishman
Apsley Pellatt in cameo incrustation. The
most successful of Apsley Pellatt’s methods
involved the use of a mixture of china clay
and supersilicate of potash for his cameos.
These were slightly baked, and then
heated to redness in a muffle furnace,
ready for use with the glass.
Thomas Sons. Knyiland. 1SX7
Diam. 152 mm (h in.)
A cylindrical flint glass pocket attached to
the end of a hollow iron rod was prepared.
The hot cameo was inserted into this and
the end of the cylinder was closed. Air was
then sucked out of the hollow iron rod,
causing the collapse of the glass on to the
cameo, so that glass and composition figure
became one homogeneous mass. Numer-
ous examples of cameo incrustation can be
found in tqth century glass from French,
Bohemian and English glass factories.
Objects made include plaques, pendants,
scent bottles, covered boxes, tumblers,
goblets, \ ases, and of course paperweights.
Both clear and colourless glass and col-
oured glasses were used in their manufac-
ture. The bowl illustrated is a rarity, since
the cameo incrustation is used in conjunc-
tion with Satinglass, though of course the
cameos are enclosed in clear glass and
applied to the sides of the bowl. Two
cameos of Queen Victoria of England are
attached to the front and back of the bowl,
which was made by Thomas Webb & Sons
in 1887, to commemorate Victoria’s Dia-
mond Jubilee.
doorstop (paperweight in green bottle glass
with ei.ower decoration enclosed
Norlh of Kngland, late igih century
Ml 127 mm (5 in.)
Towards the later part of the 19th century
popular glassware items were the heavy,
clear green glass doorstops or rough
paperweights produced in some factories
in England. These made decorative but
useful glass objects available to working
people. They were made of green bottle
glass, and were of a tall beehive shape, very
often containing the airy pattern of a
flower, as in the example illustrated, or
else enclosing an arrangement of spaced
bubbles. It has been discovered that a few
of these glass doorstops bear the same
stamp that can be found on the base of
bottles made at the Kilner factory in
Wakefield. It is also known that a specially
designed doorstop of this type, enclosing
a ceramic bust—presumably of Queen
Victoria—was made for the 1887 Jubilee
in a glass-works at Knottingley in the
West Riding of Yorkshire.
‘graal’ glass
Simon Gate, Orrefors, Sweden, 1917
When the factory of Orrefors, Sweden,
engaged the two artists, Simon Gate and
Edward Hald to design glass, one of the
major objects of the director and manager
of the factory was that they might be able
to improve on the factory’s production of
cascd-glass vases done in the manner of
Galle since 1914. In 1916 Albert Ahlin, the
manager, Knut Bergqvist, master glass-
blower at the factory from 1914, and Simon
Gate worked out their improvements.
They called their new technique ‘Graal
glass’. In Galle’s cased-glass the process of
cutting and etching the ornamental pattern
from two or three or more layers of glass
was all-important. In ‘Graal glass’ this was
just an intermediate stage, after which the
vessel was subjected to working in the
furnace, where the ornaments acquired
that fluidity which is their greatest fascin-
ation. Gate liked designs in many colours,
with figures in vivid movement.