Stained Glass Information Page.

This section is divided into the following categories.

Chemistry of Colours.

Glass production methods.

History of Stained Glass.

Styles.

Window Gallery

CHEMISTRY OF EARLY COLOURED GLASS

 Apart from the three basic ingredients of  sand ,soda and lime the following were
 added.

MANGANESE

Even when using the best quality ingredients available the "natural" colour of glass was pale green (aqua) this was due to impurities in the ingredients; mainly the iron oxide in sand . So manganese was added to produce clear glass.               Later this was replaced by selenium possibly because when glass made with manganese is exposed to strong sunlight for any length of time it turns amethyst the depth of colour depends on the amount of manganese in the glass and varies from a pale tint to a deep solid colour. The effect can be best seen when individual pieces are removed from a window and the edges which have been protected by the lead came and putty can be seen.       SEE PICS

COBALT

When added to the melt this produced a deep rich blue
  
More to follow soon