DOI Heft:
Nr. 339 (August 1925)
DOI Artikel:Freund, Frank E. Washburn: Metalglass painting at night
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19985#0358
mceRnACionAL
MADONNA. METALGLASS WINDOW. LEFT: DAYLIGHT EFFECT. RIGHT: NIGHT DESIGNED BY TH. FIGEL
of glass mosaic, with the help of which his firm is the secret of making gold-mosaic of exactly the
now able to give life to glass decoration at night same kind as the early Christian mosaic workers
by reflected light. As a matter of fact, the Berlin had used, and had even succeeded in making
firm had already worked on this problem for quite about eight hundred nuances of this gold mosaic,
a time, encouraged by former attempts at covering ranging from a silvery white almost to a dark red.
transparent glass with thin sheets of gold or silver In this gold-mosaic, the metal is smelted between
and then smelting them in. This technique had two sheets of glass of which one is quite thin and
become known among a number of workers in serves only as a covering. Thus no outside influ-
glass but, as it had a great many disadvantages, ence can ever touch or harm the metal. However,
it was never taken up with more than a mild this gold-mosaic had the same disadvantage as
interest and was consequently not developed. those earlier attempts with gold and silver layers
The worst was that these metals appeared black on glass; it made the otherwise transparent glass
or at the best grey when the light was supposed to opaque. The firm's endeavors now were to get,
filter through the glass. Thus glass treated by on the same basis, a transparent glass which, with
that method was only effective when seen by the light striking it from the front, would have
reflected light. Besides, the metal in time began the effect of gold-mosaic, and, with light filtering
to oxidize and, as it was not so firmly welded to through it from behind, could compete favorably
the glass as is the case with the black lead solder with the usual stained glass. These long and
generally used with stained glass, the influence of arduous experiments were at last crowned with
the weather affected and, after a time, destroyed success and since then the number of nuances has
it entirely. Now the Berlin firm had re-discovered been multiplied so that the most varied and
three fifly-eigbt
august 1925
MADONNA. METALGLASS WINDOW. LEFT: DAYLIGHT EFFECT. RIGHT: NIGHT DESIGNED BY TH. FIGEL
of glass mosaic, with the help of which his firm is the secret of making gold-mosaic of exactly the
now able to give life to glass decoration at night same kind as the early Christian mosaic workers
by reflected light. As a matter of fact, the Berlin had used, and had even succeeded in making
firm had already worked on this problem for quite about eight hundred nuances of this gold mosaic,
a time, encouraged by former attempts at covering ranging from a silvery white almost to a dark red.
transparent glass with thin sheets of gold or silver In this gold-mosaic, the metal is smelted between
and then smelting them in. This technique had two sheets of glass of which one is quite thin and
become known among a number of workers in serves only as a covering. Thus no outside influ-
glass but, as it had a great many disadvantages, ence can ever touch or harm the metal. However,
it was never taken up with more than a mild this gold-mosaic had the same disadvantage as
interest and was consequently not developed. those earlier attempts with gold and silver layers
The worst was that these metals appeared black on glass; it made the otherwise transparent glass
or at the best grey when the light was supposed to opaque. The firm's endeavors now were to get,
filter through the glass. Thus glass treated by on the same basis, a transparent glass which, with
that method was only effective when seen by the light striking it from the front, would have
reflected light. Besides, the metal in time began the effect of gold-mosaic, and, with light filtering
to oxidize and, as it was not so firmly welded to through it from behind, could compete favorably
the glass as is the case with the black lead solder with the usual stained glass. These long and
generally used with stained glass, the influence of arduous experiments were at last crowned with
the weather affected and, after a time, destroyed success and since then the number of nuances has
it entirely. Now the Berlin firm had re-discovered been multiplied so that the most varied and
three fifly-eigbt
august 1925