overshot glass supplier

Overshot glass had its origin in 16th century Venice, and the ability to make this ware eventually spread to Bohemia, Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Sometime prior to 1800, the production of this glass seems to have stopped. The Englishman Apsley Pellatt, owner of the Falcon Glass Works, is credited with reviving this decorative technique around 1845-1850. He acknowledged the origin of the technique by calling his product "Venetian Frosted Glass" or "Anglo-Venetian Glass". Later it would be called by other names, such as Frosted Glassware, ice Glass or Craquelle Glass.

It is important to understand the difference between crackle glass and overshot glass. Two different processes were involved. Crackle glass was produced by dipping a partially blown gob of hot glass in cold water. The sudden temperature change caused fissures or cracks in the glass surface. The gob was then lightly reheated and blown to its full shape. The blowing process enlarged the spaces between fissures to create a labyrinth of channels in varying widths. When cooled in the annealing lehr, the surface of the finished object had a crackled or cracked-ice effect.

Overshot glass was made by rolling a partially or fully inflated gob of hot glass on finely ground shards of glass that had been placed on a steel plate called a marver. The gob was then lightly reheated to remove the sharp edges of the ground glass.

Art glass is a subset of glass art, this latter covering the whole range of art made from glass. Art glass normally refers only to pieces made since the mid-19th century, and typically to those purely made as sculpture or decorative art, with no main utilitarian function, such as serving as a drinking vessel, though of course stained glass keeps the weather out, and bowls may still be useful.

The term is most used of American glass, where the style is "the logical outcome of the American demand for novelty during the 19th century and was characterized by elaborate form and exotic finish", but not always the highest quality of execution. There was a great interest in complex colour effects and painted enamelled glass.Art Nouveau glass, but the term may still be used for marketing purposes to refer to contemporary products. In fact the "Brilliant Period" style, which relied on deeply cut glass, continued to be made until about 1915, and sometimes thereafter.

Glass is sometimes combined with other materials. Techniques include glass that has been placed into a kiln so that it will mould into a shape, glassblowing, sandblasted glass, copper-foil glasswork, painted and engraved glass. In general the term is restricted to relatively modern pieces made by people who see themselves as artists who have chosen to work in the medium of glass and both design and make their own pieces as fine art, rather than traditional glassworker craftsmen, who often produce pieces designed by others, though their pieces certainly may form part of art. Studio glass is another term often used for modern glass made for artistic purposes. Art glass has grown in popularity in recent years with many artists becoming famous for their work; and, as a result, more colleges are offering courses in glass work.

During the early 20th-century art glass was generally made by teams of factory workers, taking glass from furnaces containing a thousand or more pounds. This form of art glass, of which Tiffany and Steuben in the U.S., Gallé in France and Hoya Crystal in Japan, Royal Leerdam Crystal in the Netherlands and Orrefors and Kosta Boda in Sweden are perhaps the best known, grew out of the factory system in which all glass objects were hand or mould blown by teams.

Most antique art glass was made in factories, particularly in the UK, the United States, and Bohemia, where items were made to a standard, or "pattern". This would seem contrary to the idea that art glass is distinctive and shows individual skill. However, the importance of decoration – in the Victorian era in particular – meant that much of the artistry lay with the decorator. Any assumption today that factory-made items were necessarily made by machine is incorrect. Up to about 1940, most of the processes involved in making decorative art glass were performed by hand.

Many items that are now considered art glass were originally intended for use. Often that use has ceased to be relevant, but even if not, in the Victorian era and for some decades beyond useful items were often decorated to such a high degree that they are now appreciated for their artistic or design merits.

Some art glass retains its original purpose but has come to be appreciated more for its art than for its use. Collectors of antique perfume bottles, for example, tend to display their items empty. As items of packaging, these bottles would originally have been used and thus would not ordinarily have been considered art glass. However, because of fashion trends, then as now, producers supplied goods in beautiful packaging. Lalique"s Art Nouveau glass and Art Deco designs by Josef Hoffmann among others have come to be considered art glass due to their stylish and highly original decorative designs.

There has been a growing recognition that moulded, mass-produced glass with little or no decoration but high artistic and fabrication quality such as that produced by Lalique should be considered art glass.

Up-market refined glassware, usually lead crystal, is highly decorated and is revered for its high quality of workmanship, the purity of the metal (molten glass mixture), and the decorative techniques used, most often cutting and gilding. Both techniques continue to be used in the decoration of many pieces made from lead crystal, and nowadays these pieces are regarded as art glass.

Cut glass is most often produced by hand, but automation is now becoming more common. Some designs show artistic flair, but most tend to be regular, geometric, and repetitious. Occasionally, the design can be considered a "pattern" to be replicated as exactly as possible, with the main purpose being to accentuate the refractive qualities, or "sparkle", of the crystal.

This table mat was handwoven with 100% perle cotton in a modern twist on a traditional overshot weaving pattern.Perfect as a stand-alone decorative piece on a table, dresser or shelf, or use it under a vase or glass bowl.

20th Century Glass was established in 2004 by Wayne Stephens, the current owner. We deal in a wide range of antique & collectable glassware from all over the world, selling online via our website, eBay and Etsy. We also have an in-depth encyclopaedia guide on many types of glassware, with lots of information and pictures.