Glossary of Hot Bits
& Other Details

Rev. 10/6/94, ... 2008-05-20 -21, -12-05, 2009-05-03
[Search on date pattern to find latest changes, more than one may be found.]

A list of decorative features added to or used in off-hand glass as found or taught in various places, with suggestions of how to make them, where possible. Sources are cited at end, where available. First source found with photo is usually cited, even if a fairly common technique. When a source is not given, it comes from my general experience.  Changes listed (partially) below.

New Entries:  2009-05-03 Collar, 2008-05-20 Ball Stopper, Plated Glass  2006-03-30 Graal 2005-08 lilypad, stem, avolio, blown foot 2004-08 reduction, corrections 2004-03 shards, confetti, 2003-06 twist other GAS notes, 2002-06 a canne, filigrana, lattimo, merese, zanfirico,2001-10-11 Air Marver; 2001-08-31 Air Trap; 2000-12-17 Paperweight Style, 2000-9-28 Combing, Silver Nitrate, 2000-8-22, Cups 6/29/2000 Aussie Rollup; 2002-02 Scavo

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Glossary List

Master Index of Glossary Words & Glossaries

Glossary of Blown Glass Objects

Glossary of Materials & Terms Used in Furnace Glassblowing

Glossary of Tools and Equipment
Glossary of Other Words

Glossary of Sources of Tools, Materials, etc.

Glossary Center

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A
a canne
"A type of filigrana glass created by fusing a row of fine, colored canes to produce a striped pattern. Sometimes described as fili" 20CFG [each cane has a clear case for spacing and a thin line inside. MF]
Ariel
Bubble designs by coldworking a deep carved sandblast design and then casing in clear glass, Orrefors 1937 20CFG
Air Marver
Moving the piece on while on the pipe or punty to let the molten glass flow without shaping it against a marver, paper pad or block. In my experience, produces a more brilliant surface, certainly produces one that often has different shapes that working against a solid marver have - more "organic" I use it on paperweights. 2001-10-11
Air TrapAir trap bubble in piece
A bubble surrounded by glass. Can be created by pushing in the glass and casing over. Keeping it round, if that is desired, is the challenge. Frantz refers to an open bubble as an air trap
Air stem, Air Twist
A long thin bubble, or usually multiple bubbles; in the stem of a goblet. May be created by piercing the hot glass, as by pushing it down on a set of nails, and then stretching, or by using a mold that creates narrow grooves which are then covered with another gather, sealing the air in place. An air twist stem is created by twisting the stem as it is pulled. It may be created separately, stored and applied to goblet.
Applied
Any decoration added to the basic blown piece, most often used as "applied foot" on a stemmed vessel, where the other choices are expanding the foot from the glass of the stem and spinning the foot out from a bubble. Applied often suggests the object was formed before placement, as in a pressed glass applied foot.
Applied color labeling
a method of decorating a bottle by applying glass with a low melting point to a bottle through a metal screen and then baking it in a muffle. IGCB
Avolio
Italian term for the hour glass shaped piece in a stem that connects the bowl or foot to the stem of a goblet or other stemmed piece. Schmid-A 2005-08-29
Aussie Rollup
A technique that got much attention in 1999 for working glass with a glory hole but without a furnace, combining the techniques of kiln and blown glass working, perfected in Australia and focused on at Bullseye in the U.S. The technique requires that a sheet of glass be prepared by fusing the pattern desired. This sheet's width is carefully measured (W) and brought to slumping temperature on a flat surface. On a blowpipe, a collar of the right diameter (W/PI) is prepared in the gloryhole. The sheet is rolled up with the collar so the edges meet and the glory hole is used for heating to make a cylinder and then a closed bottle which is blown and shaped. The technique allows a highly detailed image or pattern to be tightly controlled in the wall of the vessel, but otherwise produces a result similar to Stephen Powell's layout of murrini, preheated in glory hole and torched, or Lino's pickup of latticino fused on the plate. Public discussion of the technique brought immediate suggestions that a certain artist years before had fused pictures for pickup. Dante Marioni is shown fusing and rolling a similar arrangement in the glory hole in the book of the same name. Terrific pictures on his site.Rollup being demoed at Eastlake Glass, Seattle GAS 2003
Video of rollup with image on it Video  
B
Ball Stopper
"A glass ball with a neck used to plug the mouth of cruets, perfumes and decanters. Popular in the mid-1800's in US" Collectors Encycl.of Am.Art.Glass p.225
Banding
Banding on New England glass, fig. 170An even line or wrap of glass around the neck or body of the glass, usually of small diameter. NEGG Fig 170 which may be double or triple banding, where the bands touch but retain their shape. Chain
Blob top
a bottle with a rounded blob-like lip; found frequently on early soda and mineral water bottles. IGCB
Blobbing
Picking up colored chips of glass (frit) with the hot parison which are then worked into the surface as the piece is expanded to form an irregular scatter of blobs of color. GL5K 2005-11-18
Blown foot
Italian style goblet foot made by setting a small bubble on the end of the stem, nipping the tip to open it, making a small vase shape, reheating then turning and jacking the shape out to an almost flat disk. Foot  Funnel 2005-08-29
Blown Molded
Glass inflated inside a wood, plaster, or metal mold which may set the glass shape or add decorative details. Depending on the design may be a two or three part mold. Describes a whole category of glass in American Blown Glass history - 3 mold blown. AG-M
Bubbles
May be single (see Tear Drop) or multiple. Multiple bubbles may be created on the surface of the glass batch by accident and used or by plunging a piece of wet wood or a potato into the molten glass, then gathering and using the bubbly glass. Steuben created fine bubbles by rolling the piece in a carbonate then gathering over the chemical as it decomposed to gas, making bubbles. Bubbles may also be made by grooving the glass with a metal tool or optic or rolling the piece on points of nails and then gathering over the holes which hold air. Air Twist Stem
Button
A small blob of glass applied directly to the center bottom of a piece and flattened there, usually to provide a thicker portion for applying the punty and for grinding away the punty mark. Cookie
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C
Cambuchon
Small half round dot of glass (see prunt) applied to the surface and shaped like the gem cut of the same name.
Cane
Long thin pieces of glass, usually round, usually colored, used to build millefiori and murrini and as rods to decorate glass. The simplest cane is made by heating glass and pulling, the only trick being the rate of pulling to get a long rod of even diameter. The rod may be several yards/meters long. 1/8" to 1/4" (3-6 mm) is a common size. If color is coated with clear and then pulled, a thin rod of color is inside the thicker of clear. If several of these rods are bundled and twisted as they are pulled a spiral pattern is created used in latticino. Cane may have the center core molded, say into a heart, then cased, the colors remaining separate when pulled. A pattern cane may be built then surrounded with other patterns, say petals, and pulled to make a flower pattern or a more complicated picture. Millefiori is a form of cane, cut off in short pieces, figured like small flowers. Murrini are pictures made in glass, usually sliced very thin.
Cased , Casing
A thick layer (or layers) of glass on the outside of piece, created by blowing a cup of the colored glass and keeping it hot, then blowing inside the cup with another color or clear [or by melting colored glass and dipping and smoothing or by working color bar down over the outside.] Several cups may be picked up for several colors. Also the cup may be annealed and worked, then reheated and picked up. See also flashing , cups, and graal. glos-src.htm#GANTAD MF: Also, gathering clear glass over the outside of a previously worked shape or color, usually to create bubbles or to place color bits in the midst of clear glass walls. Note that different books define Casing and Flashing in alternate ways. GL5K Plated Glass
Chain
Threading done in parallel lines which are then pinched together to produce loops like chain. (AGMCK.p28, NEGG fig.174)
Coin in Bubble
A hollow knob on a lid or knop in a stem can contain a coin. A bubble must be blown and set on the part already blown or on a punty, opened, the coin inserted and the bubble sealed. (NEGG fig. 167-169)
Collar
A glass cup or disk built on a pipe for the purpose of matching a rim or rolling up a flat hot sheet of glass. Aussie Rollup  Video showing use Incalmo
Coldworking, Cold Work
Perhaps not a bit, certainly not a hot bit, coldworking is what is done after the piece is annealed. It may involve nothing more than grinding the bottom flat, polishing that, and engraving a signature. Or it may involve carving away great parts of the glass, sandblasting the surface, or cutting the glass into brilliant designs. Coldworking has its own page.
Combing, Combed
Lines of color are threaded or otherwise laid down on a piece and then are pulled perpendicular to the lines with sharp pointed tool. If the tool has a single point, the pattern runs together at the point. With a multipoint tool, one point for each line or two, the pattern stays more evenly spaced. MF
Confetti
Thin glass fragments, see shards
Cookie
A blob of glass dropped on a marver to flatten of its own weight or under pressure from a tool, used to form a foot, whether of a goblet or an un-stemmed piece. Also used to make the piece thicker where the punty will be applied to reduce the risk of taking out the bottom. The extra glass is ground off after annealing.
Crackle or Craquele or Cracked or Crinkled
During blowing, water is either added inside the piece or the piece is dipped briefly in water. This produces a network of cracks in the surface, yet the piece does not fall apart because the interior of the glass is still plastic. Further working of the glass seals the edges of the cracks. Color added before or after will enhance the appearance of the crackle. Blowing enlarges and thins the lines.
Crimped Foot or Rim
A cookie which is squeezed (and twisted) at intervals for texture. A rim may also be crimped to give it a wave-like appearance shaping each individual wave or pushing down the rim on spaced rods. Foot
Cups
If a cup shape is blown with color and is garaged, then a gather may be blown inside for double layer effect. If two or more cups are made, then multiple layers may be created. Mark Boutte makes sculptural pieces by blowing several cups with thin layers of color on thicker clear glass. He then takes a solid gather and places it in the smallest cup, heating and nesting the remainder to make a solid which he then worked to expose and interact the layers while sculpturing. Flashing, Graal, Casing are other color layer effects.

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D
Devil's Fire
An internal decoration for solid glass, apparently created by pushing a thin sharp tapered pointer through color spots on the bottom of the piece. Shown in mantle ornaments (plate 14) and paperweight and ink bottle (plate 16) of GGNJ where it is suggested it looks like swamp glow.
Diamond
A molded pattern of lines with flat diamond shapes recessed between them. May also result from a straight optic being used twice with the piece being twisted while hot to produce diagonal lines and by threading and then pinching the threads together at intervals.
Dip Molded
When a pattern is applied to the glass by putting the gather into a mold. Often ribbed, spiral, diamonds, waves. 20CFG Because of the way glass behaves, the effects of the dip pattern remain in the piece, to a greater or lesser degree even after blowing. MF
Domed Foot
A foot in the shape of a hollow hemisphere, made separately, usually, like a bowl and attached to the piece.
Drip, Optical DripImage of Sybren Valkema's Unica 1973 from Frantz book
A thick trail of glass looking like a large drop of water running down the side of the body. An effective use of an optical drip is Sybren Valkema's Unica, 1973, (right) where a cobalt blue wrap and trail is overlaid with a clear drip that modifies the image shape of the trail.
Draining/Dumping
Like gathering, less a bit than a process. As a piece gets larger, the gathering process may result in getting too much glass or an uneven amount of glass. Leaving the pipe in the furnace will result in the worker being cooked and the cooler previous gathers becoming soft and sloppy, so the piece is pulled out and placed over a bucket of water and turned to even the layer of glass and drain off the excess. This works best when the glass is hotter (and thinner) and the worker wants thinner even layers.
E
 
F
Feathering
Decoration involving threading a piece, rolling in the thread, and then using a pick to pull the threads to a point, giving the appearance of a feather tip. Hooked decor
Festoon
Decoration in which a thread it passed up and down the body of a piece while the piece is rotated, placing a loop eight or ten times around the piece.  At first glance piece may appear ribbed when thread is same glass as body.  The name from the similarity to swooping of garlands. GL5K pl.132
Filigrana
"Generic name for glass decorated internally with patterns created from fine, pre-formed canes. The canes are usually made of lattimo or colored glass." a canne zanfirico 20CFG  "An abbreviation of vetro a filigrana, the old term used for all varieties of blown glass made with opaque canes.  The three principal types are vetro a fili in which all the canes for a series of parallel lines, vetro a retorti in which each of the canes has been twisted into a spiral pattern and vetro a reticello in which the canes crisscross each other to form a fine mesh." GL5K 2005-11-28 Image
Finial
A vertical knob, usually on a lid, formed with jacks, often shaped to decorative detail, such as a flame or animal, generally taller than wide.
Fire Polishing
Returning the glass to the heat to smooth or shine the surface or edge of the glass with heat. Done with pressed glass and edges when snapped off. VAMGL
Flashed
A flashed piece, or flashed glass, has a thin layer of colored glass over the thicker base glass, the color applied usually by dipping the glass in molten color. Normally done to provide for cutting through the thin layer for decorative purposes. GANTAD see also cased glass
Flashing
Heating the glass briefly in the glory hole, it evens out the temperature of the working glass, including the punty, when working mostly on the rim, reheating at the door. Also part of the decorating technique of striking where the air is blocked (or gas added) in the gloryhole before flashing, producing a flaring yellow reducing flame that pulls oxygen from the metal oxide decorations, leaving shiny metal at the surface. MF
Folded Rim
The thin flared rim of a bowl is folded in or out to make a doubled thickness, giving more strength with light weight in the object.
Folded Foot
The thin rim is folded over or under to provide more strength at the rim.
Foot
Added to the bottom of an object to provide flat area of support. Usually shaped so that only the rim rests on the flat. The two most popular foot styles are flared and cookied. see also Crimped, Pedestal, Lilly Pad, Funnel, Domed Blown
Frit
Pieces made by picking up frit and twisting.Frit is a way of adding color and texture effects to the surface of the glass. It is small chunks of glass, usually colored, although clear can be used, which are usually laid out on a marver and the well heated piece is rolled in them. The color may be given an arrangement, checkerboard, etc., or just be a scattering of pieces. Frit can be bought in various sizes from sources of glass color or crushed from rods of glass. Pieces at right made by picking up frit and turning glass to twist color. Fritting
Fumed, Dusted
Fuming is a chemical process for adding variegated color to the surface of a piece. Since the source of the color is metal oxides, the process absolutely requires a ventilated box with filter (a fuming hood). The hot piece is placed in the hood and then sprayed with a chemical solution (tin and silver being the most common) or dusted with chemical powders, usually blown by gentle air pressure. After application, the surface is usually reheated and placed in a reducing flame to produce striking which converts the chemical oxides to metals. The result is iridized like Tiffany glass at the turn of the 19th century. See also Silver Nitrate
Funnel Foot Funnel foot on whale oil lamp.
Straight sided hollow foot becoming very narrow at stem. Shown on whale oil lamp.
Fused, Fusing
When glass pieces or layers, supported in a mold or on a flat plate, is taken just to the melting point, a fused object results. From the furnace workers point of view this item can be incorporated into a piece, like cane or murrine, but fusing is a whole category of glass work part of Warm Glass. Fused patterns may be made, sawed into layers and used to make other fused pieces or blown. Aussie Rollup
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G
Gadrooning, gadrooned
Resembling the bulges around the base of earlier English silver, created by partially dipping the bottom of a pitcher or vase and then blowing into a scallop and point mold. NEGG, p 33
Galleried Rim Gallery Rim
Hyacinth vase from Everyday Things: GlassA rim that is flat then turned straight up, thus appearing like the gallery and protective railing in a building.
Gathering
Getting (usually clear) glass from the furnace to build up the amount of glass to form to the shape desired. Almost not a "bit", since it forms the core of the piece, but it is also used as an artistic technique (half gather on the bottom and pull lily pad decorations, gather over a decorated cup, etc.) See also draining/dumping
Gold Leaf
See Leaf
Graal (actually spelled with dots over the a's)
Graal is a technique used in Swedish glass where a flashed or cased cup is annealed and designs are cut into the color or a clear cup is painted with enamels. The cup is then reheated and cased or gathered over so the color is buried under rather thick glass. Fairly risky as the hand/cold work may be lost during reheating. At least one Japanese artist puts gold leaf on the cold cup, marks tiny figures into the leaf, then reheats, gathers over, and cuts the piece, producing an astonishing effect - he loses about half his pieces, reportedly. Note that the cold work is distinctive, from blowing into cups. [The Art of Graal Glass if not showing Graal, but showing a frame, then click About Glass on left menu under Glass Information and select about graal in right window.] 2006-03-30

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H
Handle
Loop(s) of glass forming both a grip and a decorative change to the profile. An added hot bit partially formed on the punty and partially during and after attachment.  May be blown hollow, crimped, optic, twisted, etc. 2003-06-24Gadrooning done on a piece after a half post gather
Half Post
After the first gather (and following necking) a second gather is made that does not come up to the pipe but stops on the neck of the piece. This second gather is the one formed in a mold while hot. "German Half Post Method" With the result that the neck does not look as bulky while the body is stronger. TYABG NEGG
Hooked Decor
"Threading applied to glass which is pulled with a hooked-shaped device to form feathers and other decorative motifs" Collectors Encycl.of Am.Art.Glass p.226 2008-05-21

 

I
Incalmo
A technique that usually results in two distinct sections of color in a vase-like object. It is done by opening out two blown pieces so the lips are identical in diameter, heating and bringing the edges together. The joined piece is then freed from one pipe/punty and further worked. Most commonly a bowl is created and puntied for one piece while the other is still on the pipe and is opened for joining without having been freed from the pipe. When it is freed, the opening at the pipe becomes the mouth of the piece (or point of entry for shears for cutting the joined piece open.)Sonja Blomdahl piece showing incalmo Piece at right by Sonja Blomdahl  Several bowls may be used to make multiple bands. Incalmo used for vertical effect, repunty after joining glassMaking an incalmo piece and then puntying from the side permits vertical color. [examples from Starfish Glassworks, Victoria BC] 2003-06 
Inclusions
"Decorative particles of a substance placed within glass such as metallic flecks in Spangle or Adventurine" Collectors Encycl.of Am.Art.Glass p.226  MF: Also murrini, millefiori, and lampworked features added to clear glass bodies, usually thick, in the paperweight style of furnace glass work. Collectors Encycl.of Am.Art.Glass p.226
Iridized Glass
Near the end of the blowing process, metal compounds are sprayed or blown or touched to the glass and then the metals are exposed as thin films or other effects by a reducing atmosphere in the glory hole. Color
J
K Kick
The pushed in bottom of a vessel or bottle, decorative and for strength. Reduces the area on which the vessel sits and provides a thicker rim to sit on. GAWH Kick-up: the bottom of a bottle pushed up into the interior during construction; common on wine bottles. IGCB
Knop
Knops found on antique glassesPortion of a stem or lid that would be a knob if on a drawer. Solid or may be hollow and may have a coin included. May be a ring around a stem on a goblet. (Drawing from Antiques book) 2004-03-05
L
Latticino
Spiral lines usually of white glass used in stems and on the body of Venetian-style glass. Made as cane which is imbedded in the glass while working. Opaque White Twist
Lattimo
Opaque white glass, from the Italian latte, or milk 20CFG
Leaf
Gold leaf in purple vase, Matthew LaBarbera, Fire Island, AustinVery thin sheets of gold or silver or platinum originally used on surfaces, applied with sizing (glue) for a shiny effect. Some artists roll glass in leaf, picking it up and then case it and further blow, which tears the leaf apart in an organized way, giving decorative effect.
Lid
Cover for blown object, may fit in rim, overlap rim, or set on top. Both decorative and utilitarian - keeping bugs out and fluids from evaporating.
Lip
The edge of an open topped glass piece. Often shaped for graceful appearance and useful need (as in pouring or grip). The lip may be crimped, bent, curved, or wrapped. A lip is almost always an edge between the inside and outside, while a rim will often include an upper and lower surface flat or otherwise shaped to form a surface. See also Rim
Lip Wrap
A contrasting line of glass added around the lip of a piece just before finishing, often a contrasting color. Usually larger than a thread, but applied the same way. Perhaps the most common bit used in contemporary art glass, see Chihuly, etc.
Lily Pad Lilypad decoration applied on two pieces
A decoration. The bottom of the piece, usually at nearly full shape, is dipped in the molten glass and the edges of the soft glass are pulled up the sides at 3, 4 or more points. AGA, p.54,80.  May be even or uneven as shown in the image with a bowl showing uneven pulls and the base of a pitcher with even pulls. 2005-08-26
Looping and Dragging
The piece is threaded  usually with colored glass and at even spacing around the piece the threads are dragged with a hooked tool. The piece is then further worked. (AGMCK p28) Feathering
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M
Merese
"Small disk of glass separating the bowl from the stem of a goblet, often an ornamental detail on glasses." 20CFG  stem
Millefiori (Thousand Flowers)
Small designs created in cane by arranging rods of color (and other rods with designs already made this way) bundled together, then heated and pulled to stretch and reduce the design. For millefiori paperweights, the cane is usually broken into short (1/8") pieces. Used in paperweights and for design details. See also, Murrini, Cane
Mold blown
Wooden mold of bottle open for displayWhen the partially inflated glass is inflated inside a mold that represents about the final size of piece, commonly made in sections to permit opening and removal of the glass. [dip mold] Turn mold blown involves a smooth symmetrical mold that permits turning to omit mold lines. Still mold blown may have a design or other details that require no turning and thus the mold division lines also show up. 20CFG Molds may be metal covered with cork/linseed oil baked on and soaked with water or may be wood soaked in water until waterlogged. Whether turn or still, the molded piece may be further worked or not. A basic shape might have the neck worked to a carafe, a bottle, a pitcher, etc.
Mold Pressed
If a gather of glass is puddled out, usually on the marver, but may be on the piece, and a mold is pushed into it, rather than the glass pushed or pressed into the mold. Used for strawberry prunts on German glassware. VAMGL Examples of metal molds
Murrini, 2 murrine, murrhines (brit? 20CFG)

Murrini prepared for competion/sale at 2001 GAS Conf.Pictures created in slices of glass using the techniques of cane and millefiori. Used in paperweight making and other internal design processes. Typically the picture is built up of elements created in cane. Murrini are normally (today) sliced off (not broken) with a diamond saw, are fairly thin (1/16" or less, 1 mm) and are often ground and polished to avoid bubbles and allow detailed inspection. Stephen Rolfe Powell uses clear center with colored rims to create his web effect as does Dante Marioni. The image at right, edited from a Glass Art Society post card announcing a 30th anniversary auction using the murrini in art pieces. Note that the murrini are built in larger sections, like the 2001 section shown, which are combined and pulled smaller then, in this case, chopped off. Inclusions

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N
Neon Argon Mercury
Standing here for all the gases that glow under proper conditions - neon, argon, mercury. Besides the commonly thought of neon tubing, these gases can also be placed in a hollow glass sculpture and lighted by a radio frequency source. While neon tubing uses an electrode at both ends of a section of tube, RF only requires a neck to melt off under vacuum. Preparing either the tubing or sculpture requires the ability to pull a hard vacuum while heating the glass and adding the small amount of gas required.
O
Opaque White Twist
Color threads placed in glass and twisted to make a stem. Picked up from an optic if many threads, as in latichino and is encased in another layer of clear. NEGG
Optic
The visual effect of thicker and thinner clear glass. Also the metal mold with ridges inside into which the hot glass on the pipe is pushed leaving an impression which remains as the glass is worked, producing optical effects. The mold is straight, but the ridges in the glass may be twisted in working. After twisting, the glass may be reheated and returned to the mold for a diamond effect. Glass stringer may be placed in the notches of the mold to apply uniformly spaced lines around the piece on the ridges.
P
Padding
Pads of glass added to the outside of piece during working to receive embossing or to provide material for carving such as the blossom portion of floral decoration with stems and leaves in color. MF & Collectors Encycl.of Am.Art.Glass p.226  2008-05-21 Prunt
Paperweight style
The kinds of lampworked decorations used in paperweight can be used in the thick walls of a vessel, such as a paperweight vase. The level of creative detail in well made ones is well above that of a murrine image of a flower. Lundberg Studios makes these, one example. This is in contrast to actually making a paperweight shape into part of the object, where it has been used as a bowl center, part of the stem or as the knob of a lid. Inclusions
Pattern Molded
Glass produced in ca. 1770 in the U.S. and earlier in Europe where the bowl is blown into a mold containing a diamond or reticulated pattern so the bowl looks like a glass net was drawn on it. "Stiegal" type glass. NEGG p.31 Dip Mold
Pedestal Foot
Hollow support, like the bowl of a goblet turned upside down, usually created by blowing a second vessel in the form of the goblet that becomes the stem.
Pulegoso
"Glass densely infused throughout with tiny foam-like bubbles, from the Italian slang word pulega, meaning small bubble." 20CFG
Pitkin flask ribbing
A fine ribbed pattern produced in a dip mold with 30 or more slots cut inside, producing fine ribs that may be swirled around the bottle by twisting the glass and converted to broken swirled by dipping the swirled piece again. Named after Pitkin Glass company. NEGG p.67
Plated Glass
"Cased, Also referred to as plated glass" Collectors Encycl.of Am.Art.Glass p.225
Powder
Concentrated glass color is available in powder form or can be ground by the worker. The powder can be placed on the marver or in a cup for pickup by rolling the very hot glass in it. The powder melts into the glass forming a very thin layer on the surface which may be gathered over for interior effects.
Pressed Glass Bits, Press Molded
Molten glass placed in a mold and pressed has been used for centuries to make added hot bits including pressed medallions, feet, stems and handles. Machine and examples An entire piece can be pressed and pressed bodies used as the basis for further work, adding handles and other details including shaping a lip. Much automated pressed glass is done to look like cut glass. Pressed Glass Techniques
Prunt
A blunt point of glass, looking a bit like a short cow horn, applied for decoration and grip (of greasy mugs), usually in the middle of a piece, which may also be pushed with a mold. Most prunted pieces have a dozen or so prunts. "Applied blobs, tooled or molded into various motifs such as leaf and 'strawberry'" AGMCK p.27 Mold Pressed The prunt may be made with a very hot bit that is formed by pressing a mold into it, as a lion head, bell, etc. [Dreisbach class 2003-06]
Punty MarkPunty mark on piece
The shallow depression in the bottom of some pieces of blown glass, taken as proof of hand working by some people. Visually, when present, it has sharp edges created by a thin wafer of glass broken free. On some pieces it is never present, if a punty method other than hot glass is used (say a gripper), or it may be ground off in providing a flat bottom or if a button is added for the purpose.
Q Quilling
Applied ribbons in wavy formation, or undulating ribbons, used especially on individual pieces. Called also pinched trailings (AGMCK p.27) fenicio 20CFG If many fine lines, pulled to a point, resembles a feather (quill) drawn through wet paint. MF

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R
Reduction
A process that produces an effect on prepared glass.  The process is changing the gas/air mix in the gloryhole burner so that it is rich in gas, thus producing a reducing atmosphere that draws oxygen from metal oxides that have been put on the surface of the glass by fuming, rolling in powder, or applying color.  The change in atmosphere is done by either choking the air supply or by adding gas fuel after the automatic fuel/air mixer control.  The result is a bright yellow gaseous flame in the gloryhole.  The change in the glass is most commonly that the original color of the metal oxide is changed or enhanced with a silvery or golden sheen of the pure metal in fine particles near or on the surface of the glass.  Striking 2004-08-28
Rigaree
"Applied ribbons, tooled in parallel lines forming tiny contiguous ribs; used especially on ornamental pieces." (AGMCK p.27)
Ribs , Ribbing
Vertical lines forming waves of glass around a piece. On a blown piece (often into a mold) the ribs show inside, while on a pressed piece they do not. Pitkin
Ridges
Lines of glass formed above a relatively flat surface of glass.
Rim
the edge of a bowl or other glass object, see Folded, Galleried, Lip
Ring
A thick band of glass formed into a triangular shape so it appears as if a disk of glass were set into a neck or stem of a piece. The decanter to the left in this image shows the appearance of a ring at the top of the neck, although it is probably a lip.
RISD ring
The neat ring shaped bubble effect is the solidwork result of a glassblowing trick called an "interior fold" or a "RISD ring". Posted By: Kurt <krw@kurtwalrath.com> Date: 2/17/2001 - 4:22 p.m. [RISD is Rhode Island School of Design, a hot bed of studio glass in the 70's including Dale Chihuly.] more bubble
Rollup
See Aussie Rollup
S
Scavo
Scavo is a technique for producing an etched or corroded effect on the surface of glass, like it had been buried for a long time. William Morris uses it on his pseudo-archeological pieces and an internet search on "scafo glass" yields over 2,000 returns, most of which are decorative pieces for sale. Most often the definition includes "adding a corrosive chemical" to the glass surface, although one site for Alan Goldfarb refers to it as an ash glaze. 2002-02-08
Shards
Very thin glass, usually made by blowing out a bubble and shattering the bubble.  also called confetti.   It is used to produce thin areas of uniform color, being picked up like frit or powder usually.  Easier to control the over lay of one piece on another. color
Silver Leaf
see Leaf
Silver Nitrate
is a chemical that when applied to hot glass forms a compound that results in shiny silver when the piece is placed a reducing atmosphere. A reducing atmosphere is commonly made by blocking the air flow to the glory hole so hot unburned gas is available to suck oxygen out of the compound. Silver Nitrate can be made or bought.
Stem
The slender connection between the bowl and the foot on a goblet and related glassware of differing sizes. The stem may be pulled from the bowl or from the foot or pressed with the foot or built up of several blobs and bubbles.  The stem may have colored direction inside or bubbles.  Each part of the stem has a different name under Murano practice. Merese Avolio Twist stem Knop 2005-08-29
Stopper
A glass fitting, smaller than a lid and often solid, to fill the top opening of a piece usually with a portion fitted inside the opening. Often ground to fit in place by coating with grinding compound and hand turning in the opening. A 10:1 taper is considered reasonable.
Striking Color
Some colors of glass and chemical compositions will change color under special conditions.  Certain colors will strike, changing from a bland clear or base color to a much brighter.  These usually contain gold and the change is due to a heat cycle. Burmese Glass (example) is made with metal that changes from yellow to pink when it is cooled and reheated just enough; if overheated, the color reverts to yellow.  Excess corrected 2006-05-06 Samples of striking (search for word "striking" on long page)
Stringer
Colored glass pulled out into small diameter rods/lines of glass which may be put in an optic mold, laid on a cane or other marver, or otherwise used to apply lines of color to a piece. See also cane, millefiori, murrini
Sulphide
A whitish clay image carefully matched to the expansion of the glass which is placed in a paperweight or vessel wall. The air in the clay gives a silvery sheen to enclosure, looking like matte finish silver. According to the book "Sulphides", enclosure is done blowing out the end of a flat bubble, inserting the heated sulphide, reheating and sealing the end, then reheating and sucking the air out through the pipe. Sulphides web page on experiments.
Superimposed and Tooled Decoration
"A separate gather of glass, called a 'pearl', was attached to the end of a partially formed piece, pulled up, forming an outer layer or case on the body, and tooled into the desired form, principally heavy swirled ribs, and flutes, swagging, a wavy formation, and the so-called lily-pad decoration." (AGMCK p.27)

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T
Table of Glass
The term used for the disks created in the crown glass method of making window glass. NEGG p.81
Tear Drop
A bubble, round on one end, pointed on the other, created by poking the glass (and blowing into the hole for larger bubbles) then sealing and covering the hole. See also air twist.
Tears
Long slender glass "drips" bulging at one end , tapering to thin. A decoration for glass, rather rare, (Damon, GANTAD, p.77) or free hanging glass ornaments (1999) usually with color.
Tessere Tesserae
"Fusing together of separate pieces of glass that are then blown and shaped." GMOM Aussie Rollup "Thin slices of circular, square, or rectangular colored glass, often patterned, used to decorate the surface of blown glass vessels" 20CFG [in other words, not fused, but picked up. MF]
Tessuto
"Fusing together of thin rods of glass that are then shaped or blown." GMOM
Threading, Threaded
Threading demonstration image.A thin line of glass wound around the body most often, the neck or rim less often (but see lip wrap.)  Created by touching to the piece the tip of a cone of molten glass on a punty and then turning the piece. Application is easier with threading rollers which are two sets of wheels on which the punty or pipe is placed. Because the wheels are set at an angle, each rotation moves the piece the same distance along the axis of rotation and the thread forms a spiral up the piece. If the piece has been formed in an optic before threading, the thread touches only on the ridges and during reheating forms spots of color. Threading may be done and then gathered over to put threads inside the glass. Also sometimes called trailing. GL5K
Three Mold
short hand term for glass blown into a three part mold which opens to release the piece which may then be further worked including adding details. Pressed glass made in a three part mold has sharp rather than soft mold lines and usually has no added details. (AGA p.70, Ant.12/29, p.505) Mold shown in NEGG, fig.70, two sections hinge vertically off third.
Trail
A path of glass across the body, not around the body like threading, it may wander or simply be laid flat, perhaps not as large as a drip. Created by heating a bit, shaping it if necessary (flat or cone shaped), reheating to very soft and then drawing with the tip of the glass, moving the punty to make the pattern.
Twist stem, Air or Opaque
Loop stem described as twistFine lines spiraling up the thin stem of a goblet (or handle) created by two methods. Opaque is made like millefiori, Air is made by introducing bubbles in any of several ways - pierced from the bottom, grooves on the side - which are then sealed.   CB in Miller calls an open loop stem a twist stem (right). 2003-06-26 stem
U V
VeilingVeiling with reduced silver
Some of the loveliest effects in solid glass are achieved by veiling (term used by Frantz) in which the hot form is fumed or otherwise surface treated with metal oxide, which is then reduced to get color, which then cased over. This piece has two veilings.  Littleton did pieces with 3 or more in the early years of the studio movement.
Vetro, vetro a filigrana, vetro a fili, vetro a retorti, vetro a reticello
Italian for glass and various uses of cane - see filigrana GL5K
W
Wave
Lily Pad where the glass is pulled further and curved to a wave shape (AGA p.54)
Wyrthen molding
(fine spiral reeding) "first occurs as far back as the 5th century" (GGW p.60) photograph seems to clearly show the reeding is done in a second partial gather, marked several (8 pair) times with jacks and then twisted. Example has crimped leaves at top of stem.
X Y
Z
Zanfirico
"Type of filigrana glass decorated with preformed canes containing complex patterns of fine, spiralling, colored threads twisted in one direction." 20CFG
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