Topic: Definition and Distinctions

[A to Z]

Hello All--
 
So excited to be drinking from the Holy Grail of
expert knowledge about paperweights! Thank you to
each of you who so kindly share what you know.

Could someone please help me understand the
difference among the following glass techniques?--
etched, engraved, cut, incised.

Thank you!

[mildawg]

I'm probably not the best person to offer an answer but I will give my two cents anyway.  Etching would involve altering just the surface of the glass through acid, sandblasting etc, resulting in an opaque surface.  Engraved, cut, and incised would seem to all pretty much be the same with regards to glass being removed resulting in deeper designs into the surface.  Engraving would indicate cutting that results in letter, numbers, symbols, etc. Cutting and incised being any number of designs or patterns.  There you have it!!  :-0

[A to Z]

 Having seen that 61 people read my post, I began to think that
maybe 61 people were of the opinion that's something I could look up on my own.
I tried, I really did--and I sort of half "got it."

   Your response is clear, very much appreciated and will always be
remembered as my "first" :-)

Thanks!




[Variety...in moderation.]

[chopin-liszt]

Cold-worked glass isn't really my thing, but the tools and/or techniques used help to define things a bit sometimes.

Glass can be removed from the surface with acid or sandblasting, with a stencil.
There are various bits of equipment, from a diamond point pen or a dremmel (an electric vibrating diamond pointed tool) for writing or drawing or another, very delicate, technique of stippling (with diamond point pen).
There is copper-wheel engraving, and there is cut glass.

[KevinH]

Hi A-Z, welcome to the Board.

As you placed your query in the Paperweights forum, is your interest mainly in the techniques as they apply to paperweights? The terminology is pretty much standard across all decorative glass, and what "mildawg" has said covers the general principles well enough.

However, you could also add "faceting" (also known as "window cutting") to the list of terms. Faceting is the technique of grinding a surface to produce a flat or concave "window". This is especially effective for domed paperweights, which can then gain a "sparkle" and a "multi-image" view into the interior of the weight. It is also needed to view the interior of a weight which has been made with an outer coloured overlay.

You included "incised" in your list, but I suspect that term is not used much by glass makers. However it would be a valid alternative to "engraved" for many signatures and dates added by means of a diamond point drill or other "incising" tool.

Although you may have looked at it, I recommend the dictionary of terms put together by the The Corning Museum of Glass (CMG): http://www.cmog.org/research/glass-dictionary.

[A to Z]

   Thank you, Sue!

   And Kevin, absolutely right sir: my interest is as regards paperweights.

   Faceting is one technique I had not thought to include, partly because I am
fairly familiar with the definition and partly because I hadn't given much
consideration to how it's done. "Slice off sections of glass," would
have been my (considered, technical ) answer.

   So when a paperweight is described as "faceted", it's clear to me.
But I find that sellers seem to fling the other terms around fairly freely.
Thanks to your kind replies I feel more confident in knowing
what technique I am looking at.

  You'll sometimes read of a glass artist having trained as, or being an
expert in, engraving. Colin Terris, for instance. Does that then mean that
he could do a weight  like a Barry Sautner or Lubomir Richter? Or does it mean
that he was trained in engraving numbers, names etc? Or both?

  Ah, this is how it is. One question leads to a dozen more and those
dozen to a hundred...

  Will try to keep future posts more succinct. Thanks again! Andrea

[chopin-liszt]

Ah well, I know of Colin Terris, although mostly as a paperwight designer for Caithness, but have never heard of the others you mention.
Don't worry about questions leading to other questions - that's how we all learn.
I hope you settle in here nicely... and keep on asking questions. 

[KevinH]

Colin Terris's engraving work was not in the same category of technique such as Barry Sautner's!!

For those who do not already know, Barry Sautner's work was (in my view) in a league of its own and does not fall into the category of what I will call "engraved patterns and images on the surface of glass objects". Mr Sautner developed an engraving tool that rapidly fired single grains of sand and was used to carve out precise complex detail in three-dimensional objects!

See http://sautner.com/

[chopin-liszt]

  I wasn't positive I would describe the designing of stencils for mass produced things really counted as being an accomplished engraver, but I'm fairly ignorant about pwts and what Mr. Terris might have been up to for non-mass produced items and one-offs.

Does anybody know who makes the glass Sautner works on?
(my interest is in hot worked glass, not cold)

[glass man]

I do not remember the year but my glass club went on an outing to north of Detroit and  Barry Sautner was the guest speaker with examples. Most impressive! He stated that Charles Lotton was making some of his blanks. Maybe the RONDELS or flat disk shaped glass? I believe he may have been on his way too Milwaukee Wisconsin. There is a museum their with many paperweights I would like to visit. I have been to the Chicago Art Institute to see theirs and I may have a book from them. Bob in West Michigan with app 108 paperweights. YIKES!