Gabilan Glass » About Stained Glass

The Glass of Wine

david.ricardo — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:52:28 +0000

Vermeer painted versions of this window in several works, including The Glass of Wine (c. 1658-1660), of which a detail is shown here. You can see our colorful modern take on Vermeer’s design in our window entitled, simply, Vermeer.

Green Building

david.ricardo — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:08:52 +0000

Any stained glass window can be structured into modern green building. The leaded glass is sandwiched between glass panes that are slightly larger than the art work. The edges are sealed by a soft, water-tight compound. The advantages are insulation from heat and cold, and also physical protection from heavy storm winds. From a few feet away, the sandwich is invisible, with clear color by day or night. The only disadvantage is that neither you nor your visitors will be able to take pleasure in running dirty fingers over the lead work or glass textures. NOTE: In planning your installation, be aware that thermal sandwiches increase the window’s dimensions by one inch for both width and height, and adds an extra 1/2-inch in thickness. Costs for window fabrication increase, but not exorbitantly. However, weight does increase significantly, which affects shipping costs.

Fabricating Windows Just For You

david.ricardo — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:59:33 +0000

We have our favorite designs, types of designs, and periods we like to imitate, steal from, or create out of our warped imaginations. As you can see from our gallery display, some designs go back to the Renaissance. In California, for example, the Dombrink studio in Oakland spread these ancient designs about in Victorian, Georgian, Arts & Crafts, Deco, and more modern buildings for almost a hundred years.

If you see a window somewhere that you like, we’d be glad to fabricate it for you, provided that you:

photograph it;
carefully describe the texture and colors (and, if possible, send samples of glass);
and tell us the drop-in size.
Or, to give us a very exact design and size: Buy a piece of graphite at your local art store, place a piece of paper over the window, and make a rubbing.

If you delight in one of our gallery designs but require a different size, remember that in reducing or enlarging one dimension, you also change the other dimension proportionately. We can work from scratch changing both sizes, but that requires re-drawing and other complications, and will change somewhat the basic design, will change the price, and will change the amount time required to deliver the window to you.

If we cannot fabricate the window you want, we’ll give you the names of other people we consider expert and responsible for your consideration.

Stained Glass: Some Important Terms

david.ricardo — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:54:27 +0000

How to think and talk (with us or anyone else) a little bit about stained glass and other windows, so that we understand each other. You can also, then (like we do), pretend that you are experts.

Lites | Came | Window Sizes | Transom Window

Lites (lights)

A “pane” of glass is often called a light (lite).
So — a large wooden or metal window with many panes of glass is a “multi-lite” (multiple light) window.
An arched (round top) window by itself, over a door, or over another window, is shaped like a fan; so it’s called a “fanlite.”
A tall, slender window on one or both sides of a door is called a “sidelite.”

Already you know more than most.

Came

The multiple pieces of glass in a “leaded” glass window are held together with “H”-shaped pieces of lead strips called came (once upon a time called calme), which are soldered together at the joints. Except that in modern times the “lead” came may actually be made, for example, of zinc, brass, or copper instead of lead. This may be for decorative (color) reasons, or for strength. In old leaded glass windows there were often iron bars (which you weren’t supposed to view) to prevent the wind from bowing and tearing loose the came and glass. Now one may, in places, use zinc came for strength. Also, the came may now be a thin strip of copper foil on the edge of each piece of glass that is run over with solder to ensure structure and strength and give another kind of decorative appeal. The copper foil technique is often used in Tiffany-style lamp shades. The windows in our gallery use lead, zinc, or (occasionally) copper came.

Window Size: Drop-In vs. Daylight

There are two basic sizes to any leaded glass window:

Drop-in size
Daylight size

When we give a size in the gallery, it is the drop-in size, so that you can tell what opening it will fit into and have support. The daylight size (which is the dimension receiving light) is often 1″ smaller in each dimension, since on each edge 1/2″ is covered by the window frame (with putty and/or a wood strip).

Transom Window

A transom window is typically above a front door, topping out just below the ceiling. It may be single or multi-lite, and may be decoratively stained.

Glazier’s Book, circa 1670

david.ricardo — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:18:51 +0000

The image to the right shows a pair of thin beech wood pages from a leaded glass (Glazier’s) pattern book of about 1670, which you could check out at the Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen.

Check out our window entitled “1670” to see how history repeats itself.

Der Glasser

david.ricardo — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:00:00 +0000

Stained, leaded glass panels are assembled today pretty much as in the past. The woodcut to the right shows a glassworker, who has inherited a long tradition of technical development, busy at his workbench in the mid-XVII Century. The German poet has got his number—whatta kick! These panels were so valuable in that era that moves, divorces, property sales, and deaths led to serious legal wrangles—we hope you treasure our panels.

The poem says something like this:

I’ve been a glazier for many a year
And have drinking glasses without peer,
Some for wine and others for beer

And Venetian glass panels so pure,
That in church or beautiful hall will endure.
Such is the rautenglass pattern for sure.

So they who wish to stop in here
Will get my full attention clear.

Woodcut from Eigentliche Beschreibung aller Stände by Swiss artist Jost Amman (1539-1591). Frankfurt-am-Main 1568, with poems created in 1501-1509 by Hans Sachs (1494-1576), who attended the Latinschool at Nurnberg.