STAINED GLASS

In today’s parlance, we immediately associate the term stained glass with religious, memorial or church installations, frequently pictorial. In reality, the term can refer to all coloured glasses, ranging from historically important objects, such as the famous Portland Roman glass vase in the British Museum, to a coloured glass panel in a domestic Victorian front door.

The first man-made glass originated in Mesopotamia, Syria or ancient Egypt over 5,000 years ago. Glass technology subsequently advanced rapidly and, over the millennia, basic silicate and soda-lime glasses were improved with various additives and refinements to make a range of suitably workable and durable types of glass. Central to these developments was the use of colour. Coloured glass was paramount in the decorative and commercial properties of ancient