above: Opalescent
cockerel by Sabino
Glass Encyclopedia
Click here for the full
list of latest topics
or click on any of
the following links:
Advertising glass
Akro Agate glass
Amberina glass
American glass
Apothecary glass
Apsley Pellatt glass
Art Deco glass
Art nouveau glass
Arts and Crafts glass
Baccarat glass
Bagley glass
Barolac glass
Beads (glass)
Bimini glass
Blenko glass
Books on glass
Bottles (glass)
Boyd's Crystal Glass
Brierley Crystal glass
E O Brody glass
Bubble glass
Burtles Tate glass
Caithness glass
Cameo glass
Cameo incrustations
Carnival glass
Cast glass
Chance glass
Charder glass
Cire Perdue glass
Cloud glass
Cobalt blue glass
Consolidated
Contemporary glass
Coralene glass
Coudersport glass
Crackle glass
Cranberry glass
Custard glass
Cut crystal glass
Daum glass
Davidson's glass
Depression glass
Dew drop glass
Dorothy Thorpe glass
Drinking glasses
Dumps
EAPG glassware
End-of-day glass
Etling glass
European glass
Fairy Lights
Federal glass
Fenton glass
Fire-King glass
Flygsfors glass
Fostoria glass
French glass
Fry Glass
Galle Glass
Glass hand vases
Glass-working
Glass Dumps
Gold ruby glass
Goofus Glass
Gray-stan glass
Greeners glass
Hand vases
Hazel Atlas glass
Heisey glass
Historismus glass
Hobnail glass
Hunebelle glass
Imperial glass
Intaglio glass
Irradiated glass
Italian glass
Jack-in-Pulpit glass
Jade glass
James Derbyshire
Jeannette Glass
Joblings glass
Joe Rice glass
John Derbyshire
J Walsh Walsh glass
Kemple glass
King's Lynn glass
Lalique glass
Leerdam glass
Le Verre Francais
L G Wright glass
Libbey glass
Libensky glass
Lobmeyr glass
Loetz or Lotz glass
Lost wax technique
Malachite glass
Manchester glass
Marbles (glass)
Marqueterie de Verre
Mary Gregory glass
Mdina glass
Mercury glass
Milk glass
Molineux Webb glass
Monart glass
Murano glass
Nailsea glass
New Zealand glass
Northwood glass
Opalescent glass
Orient & Flume glass
Orplid glass
Orrefors glass
Pallme-Konig glass
Paperweights
Pate de Verre
Peachblow glass
Pearline glass
Percival Yates & Vickers
Perthshire Paperw'ts
Phoenix glass
Pictures on glass
Pilgrim glass
Pirelli glass
Powell glass
Riverside glass
Reverse paint on glass
Rose bowls
Royal Brierley glass
Sabino glass
Scandinavian glass
Schneider glass
Shoes in glass
Silhouettes on glass
Silvered glass
Silver overlay glass
Slag glass
Sowerby glass
Spatter glass
Stained glass
St Clair glass
Steuben Glass
Stevens & Williams
Strathearn glass
Stretch glass
Sulphides in glass
Sun changed glass
Thomas Webb glass
Tiara glass
Tiffany glass
Toothpick Holders
Tortoiseshell glass
Tudor Crystal glass
Uranium glass
Val St Lambert glass
Vasart glass
Vaseline glass
Venetian glass
Venini glass
Verlys glass
Videos on Glass
Vistosi Glass
Vitro Porcelain Glass
Waterford Crystal
Webb Corbett glass
Webb, Thomas glass
Wedgwood glass
Westmoreland glass
Whitefriars glass
WMF glass
Ysart glass
Useful glass links
Glass Message Board
Glass Museum on Line
Opalescent Glass from
The Glass Encyclopedia
A short explanation of Opalescent Glass:
There are three kinds of glass which are called "Opalescent". One is the blue-tinged semi-opaque or clear glass with milky opalescence in its centre, typical of Lalique, Sabino, and Jobling's. The colour is produced by the slower cooling of the molten glass in those parts which are thick, causing some crystallization inside the glass. This kind of glass glows a golden colour when light shines through from behind it, and a beautiful blue when light shines onto the surface from the front. During the 1920's and 1930's there were many companies in France who made beautiful opalescent art deco creations. Amongst the best known were Lalique, Sabino, Etling, Verlys, Hunebelle, Dieupart at Simonet Brothers, Cesare, Daniolo, Ferjac, P. D'Avesn, Martel. Vernox and Verart were two trade names from Sabino to compete with the cheaper opalescent glass from Verlys, and Verlux was another French trade name of the time. In other coutries Barolac in Bohemia, Joblings in England, and Val St Lambert in Belgium were also producing beautiful pressed opalescent glass in the 1930's.
The second kind of opalescent glass has a milky white edge or a white raised pattern decorating a coloured pressed glass item. This effect is produced by re-heating parts of the molten glass when it has just started to cool, and heat-sensitive chemicals in the glass turn the re-heated sections white. The easiest way to do this is to present the newly pressed glass item back to the "glory hole" or furnace entrance, and those parts nearest the heat turn white.
The third kind of opalescent glass is hand blown and was normally made from two layers of glass. The outer layer contained heat reactive components such as bone ash. The two-layered piece was blown into a mould with the raised pattern impressed into the metal. After removing the mold, the piece had a raised pattern comprised largely of heat sensitive glass, which turned milky white when reheated. This left the white pattern like a silhouette against the usually clear background.
If you are looking for Opalescent glass, you can usually find items on offer on ebay (click here to see Opalescent glass listings on ebay).
The items below are for sale right now on eBay - we thought you would like to see these examples.
Here are some books on Opalescent glass that you may find helpful. Click on any book cover to read more about that book.
|
Click here if you would like to receive the Glass Encyclopedia monthly GLASS NEWSLETTER |
 |
If you have never tried an on-line auction,
explore ebay, - still the best!
Type what you are searching for in this box:
FIND GLASS on ebay!
Take a quick look at your kind of glass in Angela's Designer Searches - save time and don't miss an opportunity even when you are busy! - CLICK HERE
INFORMATION about Bagley Glass!
At last a book on Bagley Glass. The first edition of this book sold out very quickly.
 |
The 2nd Edition is now available and has received a rave response - more information, more and better pictures, new items identified as Bagley for the first time, a helpful index, and more compehensive coverage; - so much so that there is no need for a supporting CD, which brings the price lower!
A truly comprehensive guide to help you identify Bagley Glass. Click on picture for more details. 2nd Edition US$33.90 plus pp. |
| INFORMATION about New Zealand Glass ! Including many original catalog pictures and dozens of photographs. NOW available - this is the first paperback edition of the book and it covers many contemporary New Zealand glass artists as well as the history of glass in New Zealand, Crown Crystal Glass and New Zealand bottles. Price US$29.90 plus pp. |
Tiara Glass Collectors' INFORMATION
 | Click on the picture for more details. This CD includes original catalogs and advertising leaflets. There are now at least seven full catalogs, five leaflets, and the 1995 Tiara Product Information Manual. |
You may often find a bargain on half.com.
Click on this logo to try.
Copyright (c) 1998 - 2008 Angela M. Bowey.
All rights reserved. Copying material from this page for
reproduction in any format is expressly forbidden.
Web site designed by: Angela M. Bowey.
URL to this page:
http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/opalescentglass.html