Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: Sue C on January 09, 2009, 11:17:20 AM
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I recently aquired a box of old Pilkington Bros glass samples, i want to make them avilable to the GMB for referance and research, the problem i have is how to display them, ie: number sequence, colour sequence? how many in a group?
Also would there be any legal aspects i should consider?
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No legal aspects to worry about. Plenty of technical ones.
Best approach would be to put them on a scanner and scan in both reflected and transmitted light.
But first calibrate your screen, scanner and software as the distortions introduced if you don't will not be good.
Calibration involves first getting a colour profile for your monitor, windows default is not good enough. You can get this from the monitor makers web-site. Then use any calibration tools provided. (Pro equipment would use fancy hardware but the tools you can find for visual calibration are good enough.)
Calibrate the scanner as described in the manual, if your scanner does not come with a calibration image, these can be bought from graphics suppliers.
Make sure scanner and graphics software use the same colour profile and scan within the graphics program rather than the scanner standalone tools. Save the results as Tiff or psd, for web uploading create jpeg's and png's from them and compare each against the tiff to decide which is the closest match to the Tiff.
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Thanks Frank, if i could understand any of that i am sure it would be the best way to go about it, but as a complete duffer with computers it will have to be photographs.
There are over 70 samples, so maybe a page in the gallery entitled Pilkington Tint's? what do you think Anne?
P.S thes doesn't seem to be any names for the colours just numbers, i wonder if Pilkingtons have a colour list and would it be worthwhile contacting them?
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Hi Sue, yes I can create you a public album for them in the reference bit if you'd like? They are fascinating for sure and will be a great addition to our reference resources. Re Pilkington's - it's worth asking if they have a list, the worst they can do is say no. ;)
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I'd be quite happy to do them for you, but it would take a while... at least, until we get set-up in the new house.
These would be 'the list' and I doubt they still make cathedral glass.
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Sue, I have a web site started, which is intended to research the industrial output of Chance & Pilkington - very much work in progress! I already have access to four boxes of samples, all of which contain different samples, clear and coloured but these might have different labels. A really great find!
www.chance-pilkington.co.uk
The output from both companies were mirrored, particularly after 1953, so many of the trade names were duplicated, although there will be differences in the glass manufacture.
Frank's suggestion to try scanning them is a good one - I have had good success with this, although a little tweak in image editing software should be all that's required. I can always help here, if required.
EDIT - Anne: perhaps one for industrial glass?
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Thanks all, my lovely Tony has read Franks reply and said he would do it for me, as soon as he gets round to it i will let Anne know.
P.S this is what the seller knew about them.
This sample set was supplied by a representative of Pilkington Bros. to my Great Uncle who was a pumber and glazier in the early 1900s. Each piece bears a small sticker with the words: 'St. Helens, Rolled Cathedral' and has a Tint number. This has been in my family for many years.
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Thanks to Tony's super scanning skills (how's that for alliteration!) and with Sue's permission, her Pilks glass samples are now in the GlassGallery here:
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/thumbnails.php?album=724 8)
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Cathedral, of course being used primarily for stained glass windows :hiclp: :hiclp: :)
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Cathedral, of course being used primarily for stained glass windows :hiclp: :hiclp: :)
Ah, so those colours weren't just for tiling my grandparents' kitchen in Seddon St, St Helens, then? :)
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I did say primarily ;D Cathedral is the texture, not the colour range
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Not the kitchen Chris, maybe the front parlour though? :chky:
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No lass, it were definitely the splashbacks round the kitchen sink.
I remember going to meet my granddad coming out of work (c. 1964), and found him struggling down North Hill with a cardboard box full of coloured square glass off-cuts packed in straw! Grandma complained that they were useless, so he used them as tiles - presumably to prove a point.
He said it was cathedral glass. If I remember right, it was hammered or frosted on one side, which meant it keyed into the grouting better!
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Ah, this explains it quite well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_glass
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What a great story Chris! I bet the neighbours thought that was well-posh! :clap:
Yes, Cathedral is textured - you can make out the texture in some of Sue's samples.
This topic has just got me wondering if there is a comprehensive list of stained glass makers anywhere?
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Cathedral glass is also called 'Figured'. Originally it was rough plate glass, like that used for greenhouses, or early railway stations, but with improvements to the technology to make rolled plate glass, this process was adopted from about 1850.
Double-rolled is where the glass is passed through two sets of rollers, to allow more complex textures (such as opposing patterns) to be impressed onto the malleable glass. This was patented by W E Chance (different company to Chance Bros.) in 1885.
However, I don't think Sue's samples are deliberately textured. More likely these are plain rolled glass, where clarity was not a high priority, and the surface is entirely dependant on the smoothness (or not!) of the rollers. Modern 'stained' glass can often be tinted rolled glass, and the additional use of textures can prove some stunning results. Did Max ever post a photo of her dining room window?
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This topic has just got me wondering if there is a comprehensive list of stained glass makers anywhere?
No. Although a well documented subject matter as far as churches are concerned, the makers are often anonymous and remain today one of the most common type of freelance glass-worker in addition to those employed by companies.