subject: Glass Vocabulary: glassmaking techniques and other vocabulary A to Z – Part 3 [print this page] Glass Vocabulary: glassmaking techniques and other vocabulary A to Z Part 3
Marvering: Process of rolling a mass of molten glass, still attached to the blow-pipe, on a hard flat surface to make it uniform. It is also used to embed glass threads, blobs, and motifs into the surface of the object.
Metal: Glass in molten or hard state.
Millefiori (Italian, "thousand flowers") : Process of decorating glass with slices of colored canes arranged to resemble flowers by embedding them in a clear glass matrix or fusing them in a mold.
Mold-blowing: Forming of objects and decoration in low relief by blowing molten glass into a mold.
Mold-pressing: Developed in 1827. Molten glass is poured into metal molds and pressed with a plunger to form a smooth interior and an exterior impressed with the patterned design in low relief.
Murano: Famous glassmaking island of Venice.
Obsidian: Natural form of volcanic glass, usually black.
Pate de verre: (French: glass paste) This material is produced by grinding glass into a fine powder, adding a binder to create a paste, and fluxing medium to facilitate melting.
Pattern-molding: blowing molten glass into a mold with a patterned interior.
Pillar-molding: A popular Roman decoration of vertical ribs formed by working vessels while soft with pincers and other tools, or by molding.
Pontil: Iron rod used for handling glass during manufacture.
Prunt: Blob of glass applied to the surface of an object for decoration and to facilitate holding. Mainly used for drinking vessels.
Reticello filigrana: (Italian: small network) Invented during the early 16th century. Equal lengths of circular-sectioned clear glass rods containing white or colored glass threads are fused and gathered along one edge, then blown to the required shape.
Rods: sticks of glass used for filigree or millefiori decorations.
Sandblasting: projecting abrasive material by using compressed air to matt or to penetrate the glass surface.
Slumping: shaping glass by allowing it to sag through its own weight into or over a form during heating in a kiln
Sommerso: thick glass that has usually been cased several times.
Stippling: Decorative technique of tapping a glass surface gently with a pointed instrument to create design and tonal effects with tiny dots, called stipples.
Striking: reheating of glass objects to develop certain colors and/or special effects.
Studio Glass: unique work handmade by a single artist-maker, as distinguished from factory-made glassware
Tesserae: Small pieces of glass arranged and cemented into mosaic compositions. Used to decorate interiors and in jewelry.
Trailing: Decorative application of softened threads of glass to the surface of an object.
Twist: Decorative stem used mainly on 18th century English drinking glasses. They have white, colored or air threads, twisted within the metal to create elaborate designs.
Wheel-cutting: also known as wheel-engraving. Decorating the surface of glass by the grinding action of a wheel, using disks of various sizes and materials.
