See also
 | Look up factory glass in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Factory glass is a term used by collectors of art glass to distinguish relevant items from the more individual or unique studio glass and by studio glass artists to distinguish their work from the more standardised items which are generally made in larger glassworks. [1]
It is difficult to specify how large a glassworks would be before it is considered a factory but size is not the key indicator. The crucial distinction would be where there is a significant degree of specialisation or "division of labour" as opposed to the more hands-on working methods used by a single glass artist, with perhaps an assistant, in a studio.
Not all glass made in factories counts because more individual, limited edition or one-off pieces were made for a variety of reasons. Examples would include; experimental, "end-of-day" and apprentice pieces and "friggers" (test or trial pieces) but also special orders and one-off commissions.
At Fenton, Dave Fetty, a factory glass worker for most of his career, was allowed to use specialist skills, learned before joining the factory, in limited editions of "offhand" pieces without the use of moulds. [2] Such pieces are more akin to studio glass than "factory glass".
In the United Kingdom, Whitefriars and Caithness, have produced limited production "studio" lines alongside standard production in the same factory. At the ZBS glassworks in Czechoslovakia, there was a separate department for making more experimental studio type pieces which were later hived off and came to be called Libera. The small Skrdlovice works was used by designers in the communist era to test out their designs with short runs before some went on to full production at other factories. The limited test items are much more prized by collectors but it's often difficult to be sure which ones these are and which ones were replicated in full production runs elsewhere.
While, the exceptions would generally account for a very small proportion of overall production, the term applies, strictly speaking, only to the production which was standardised, where many workers would be involved in the making of each item.
The many other types of glass which are generally made in factories are usually referred to by their individual names; for example; float glass (for windows) and "glass packaging" (bottles, jars, and containers) and domestic glassware.
| Look up factory glass in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
A craft or trade is a pastime or a profession that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small-scale production of goods, or their maintenance, for example by tinkers. The traditional term craftsman is nowadays often replaced by artisan and rarely by craftsperson (craftspeople).
Art glass is an item that is made, generally as an artwork for decoration but often also for utility, from glass, sometimes combined with other materials. Techniques include stained glass windows, leaded lights, glass that has been placed into a kiln so that it will mould into a shape, glassblowing, sandblasted glass, and copper-foil glasswork. In general the term is restricted to relatively modern pieces made by people who see themselves as artists who have chosen to work in the medium of glass and both design and make their own pieces as fine art, rather than traditional glassworker craftsmen, who often produce pieces designed by others, though their pieces certainly may form part of art. Studio glass is another term often used for modern glass made for artistic purposes. Art glass has grown in popularity in recent years with many artists becoming famous for their work; and, as a result, more colleges are offering courses in glass work.
Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement. Their prices may range from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of dollars (US). For the largest installations, the prices are in the millions.
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term is used to distinguish this process from the more conventional construction practice of transporting the basic materials to the construction site where all assembly is carried out.
Uranium glass is glass which has had uranium, usually in oxide diuranate form, added to a glass mix before melting for coloration. The proportion usually varies from trace levels to about 2% uranium by weight, although some 20th-century pieces were made with up to 25% uranium.
A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate. With the advent of computer-assisted animation production, the use of cels has been all but abandoned in major productions. Disney studios stopped using cels in 1990 when Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) replaced this element in their animation process, and in the next decade and a half, the other major animation studios phased cels out as well.
Carnival glass is moulded or pressed glass, always with a pattern and always with a shiny, metallic, iridescent surface shimmer.
Riedel Crystal is a glassware manufacturer based in Kufstein, Austria, best known for its glassware designed to enhance different types of wines. Established in Bohemia in 1756, the company is managed by Georg Riedel and Maximilian Riedel.
Milk glass is an opaque or translucent, milk white or colored glass that can be blown or pressed into a wide variety of shapes. First made in Venice in the 16th century, colors include blue, pink, yellow, brown, black, and the white that led to its popular name.
Iittala, founded as a glassworks in 1881, is a Finnish design brand specialising in design objects, tableware and cookware. Iittala's official i-logo was designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1956.
The A.H. Heisey Company was formed in Newark, Ohio, in 1895 by A.H. Heisey. The factory provided fine quality glass tableware and decorative glass figurines. Both pressed and blown glassware were made in a wide variety of patterns and colors. The company also made glass automobile headlights and Holophane Glassware lighting fixtures. The company was operated by Heisey and his sons until 1957, when the factory closed.
Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers.
The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905 by brothers Frank L. Fenton and John W. Fenton.
George Ravenscroft was an English businessman in the import/export and glass making trades. He is primarily known for his work in developing clear lead crystal glass in England.
Grönvik glasbruk or simply Grönvik was a glassworks in the present-day Grönvik village in Korsholm, Western Finland. It was founded by merchant Johan Grönberg and existed from 1812 to 1907. Several glass manufactures were produced at Grönvik. At first bottles and drinking-glass were made here, but beginning in the 1890s solely window glass. Also pharmaceutical glass was manufactured. The glassworks produced as the first factory in Finland pressed glass, which came about from the 1840s. The domestic market for glass was during the time of the glassworks smallish and glassblowing products were exported to e.g. Lübeck, Saint Petersburg, Stockholm and Denmark, as well as to other parts of Europe. Grönvik was able to successfully assert its position, despite the competition from other glassworks in Finland. Eventually, it became the most distinguished in the country. The glassworks also become the largest in the Nordic countries.
Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glass jewelry and tableware.
Salvador Ysart was a glassblower who came to work at the Moncrieff glassworks in Perth, Scotland, in 1922 where he designed and produced a range of art glasswares called Monart.
Orrefors glassworks is a glassworks in the Swedish village Orrefors in Småland. Orrefors manufactured crystal glassware and art glass. The range consisted of crystal stemware, barware, vases, and sculptures and lighting products in crystal. The glassworks in Orrefors closed in 2012.
Nailsea Glassworks was a glass manufacturing factory in Nailsea in the English county of Somerset. The remaining structures have been designated as a scheduled monument.
Guanajuato handcrafts and folk art are mostly of European origin although some indigenous work still survives in some communities. The most notable craft is the making of glazed mayolica pottery, followed by handmade traditional toys of various materials, especially a hard paper mache called cartonería. While handcrafts are not a large an industry here as in some other states, it does have several major handcraft markets which sell to tourists and foreign residents. Other handcraft traditions include wrought iron work, tin and glass, wood carving and leather working.