Old Glass

[Dan Seese]

I had someone call me today who has several panes of old glass that he had removed from a building and he was wondering if I was interested in purchasing them. They're around 100 years old and he described them as "wavy" glass. I think he said they're around 3' x 4'.

I don't have an immediate need for this but it is something I've thought about a number of times - just doing some decorative gold work on old glass since the effect is different than on new glass. It might even be something I would do as "art" glass to sell as fine art as opposed to a regular commercial job.

I don't have a specific need nor do I have cash burning a hole in my pocket to purchase some glass that may be sitting around for awhile. (I already have enough of that.) On the other hand, I don't want to miss an opportunity to get some old glass. I'll probably go take a look at the panes and decide what to do. (I guess price would be an issue too, and I don't really know what is reasonable to pay.)

So, I throw this out there for comment or if there is any thought on doing work on old glass.

Thanks

[erik winkler]

Hello Dan,

If you fall in love with the glass buy it, if it is not first love leave it.

But in my opinion it is herasy to restyle 'ancient' pieces.
In the past a lot of antiquedealers and jewellers demolished some one of a kind artifacts for live by making them part of a new piece of "art".
1. For instance Roman golden or silver coins made into a necklace.
2. Or a painting that was cut 10 inches on one side to fit on a new, but smaller, wall.

If i could give my opnion or better yet ask you: "do not tough the 'one of a kind pieces' of art.
Only if it is worth nothing, you could play around.
But than again.... maybe in 25 years those pieces would be the most wanted pieces for a certain collector....

Have fun and lett me know what happened

[Dan Seese]

Erik,

Thanks for your insight. I can especially appreciate the disgust for comodifying an antiquity by making it into a piece of jewelry for resale or defacing a painting to make it fit.

This is a little different since what we're talking about is old windows which were removed from an old building and replaced with new windows. There is no intrinsic artistic value in the glass. It has been removed from its original purpose and the only value I can see in it is that there are imperfections and texture and some of the types of things you find in old glass as opposed to new glass. My thinking is that decorating glass like this through gilding, painting and other techniques can have an end result not possible with new plate glass.

Even so, your point is well taken.

[erik winkler]

I thought it was a glue chipped piece of some kind... sorry about that.
Do you have a photo or something of the glasses?

Working on aged glass will enhance the look of an old masterpiece.
But you have to think who will buy it...
Since it is not originall the buyer will only buy it to place it in an antique surrounding so that it fits.
Or... it is a buyer who likes kitsch (and not true art) on his walls.

The first kind of buyer is hard to find and therefore you will probably not be able to sell it.
The second kind of buyer is not a an artlover and probably won't put in so much money as should.

The only way to make something special of it is to make your own design, put in your heart and soul in a totally contemporary Dan Seese style.

[Kent Smith]

In my experience, old glass of this type has limited value for such projects. It will be thinner at the top, thicker at the bottom and stressed enough to not be suitable for blasting, chipping or cutting. If it had a southern exposure I suspect it will be more brittle. While the waves in the glass appear more authentic for some period pieces, it interferes with good artwork. The best part about period glass was that it was less green so save your money to buy good water white glass like starfire. You may not get as many but it will be better glass.

[Kelly Thorson]

Hi Dan,
I get a lot of old glass given to me. It tends to be somewhat brittle and so you have to handle it more carefully. I've found it tends to be difficult to cut as it often will take the path of least resistance instead of following your score line. It seems to have a mind of it's own. The different thicknesses will probably only compound those tendencies. The thicker areas will have absorbed less UV over long periods of time. My theory on it has for the most part become that window glass is just to brittle to risk using for a time consuming project. I like to have as much insurance as possible when investing a lot of time on glass. Usually there is a lot of surface scratching as well, caused by years of cleaning and scraping. Old mirrors on the other hand I use a lot of.
My house has some wavy glass in the windows, enough so that in certain lights the reflections play on the walls. Looking through them on an angle while you walk can leave you with a sense of vertigo, but it's only visible in certain light, I'm not sure it would be very noticeable in a finished piece.

That all being said, there is a little romance in the character and history of the old glass, so if it draws you to it...you should go for it, just remember that you need to be extra gentle.

[Patrick Mackle]

I feel the closest vein into which this type of glass would fall would be to use it just as is for replacement stock for windows of the same era, or to reproduce some of those old two and three toned acid panels that show up now and then.
By the way, this era glass is sometimes found to be thicker at one end than the other because it was hand blown or drawn glass. Not because of the myth that glass flows downward over time. It is generally true that when large windows of this glass are removed from their long resting place that the thicker end is at the bottom. But this is more due to the glazer not wishing to install a glass pane with the heavier end balancing at the top, whilst the more comfortable way would be to allow the thicker heavier bottom edge to behave as a resting pendulum.
Pat