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A customer called me today wanting to have a couple panels done.
Evidently the ones they had were a bit too big for the door.
He said he had a sample that he'd bring by...
Sure, bring it by...
Turns out the panels were old toned acid etching....fairly old, I would guess.
His client bought them at an auction. I told him they would be quite pricey to
replicate.
So, does anyone have any idea if these panels would have been imported from England, or domestic?
Is there anyway of estimating their age?
They were very nice to see. The contractor said he has collected some reverse glass signs and knew of
Rick Glawson. He was glad to meet me and had a fondness for Machine.
Aho Larry,
Those are the type that were done in production runs. They are two or three tones generally. They were screen printed with resist to protect the initial frost and clear glass, and after each toning bath. They never seem to have any wheel cutting but some do incorporate mica and bromish treatments to add textures. Bromish is the act of dry brushing embossers black (brunswich black) into areas leaving a directional brushed texture. Sometimes a sponge was used to impart a stippled effect.
Often you will see pin holes were the acid peaked through the thin resist, they weren't very critical of these types of acid panels.
Many times it can be seen on the backside, the embossers finger prints perfectly etched into the glass. They did not wear gloves and obviously did not mind having the acid bath on their fingers. It is also apparent that the tallow dam that they scooped along the edge to contain the acid would leak during the etching and eat oddly fluid designs on the underside of the panel.
I am duplicating a nicely designed panel coming up soon. it has acacia leaf scrolls, cherubs, and a vase. It is an English piece, its mate was broken.
The design theme and layout on your posted panels make me think that they were made here in the states. Some of these types of panels were designed with a multiple banded border that allowed for the stock designed window panel to be cut down to fit a similar range of door openings, ie: one size fits all.
I have seen these panels contain seed bubbles and tiny indented points. Some older ones are bowed and are thinner on one end as compared to the other. This tells me that very early panels were mouth blown into long cylinders and opened up into sheet form in a lehr. I would venture to guess that production acid etched panels like your pictures show could be as early as 1915 to the 30's or 40's. I would have to see them in person to narrow the date.
Actually, I have found that after a good cleaning to remove a 100 or more years of industrial aged soot, these toned panels will scan quite nicely into photoshop. From there they can be inkjet printed onto film for use in creating silk screens for reproduction.
I had the opportunity to have a famous Dodger announcer bring a broken panel to my door, a painter had put a handle through it. He had been searching glass studios for a year for someone to duplicate another. I had the honor of installing the replacement in his kitchen while his wife prepared his dinner.
Pat
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads