Glass Information and Education

gadroon: A continuous decorative pattern of short sections of ribbing, originallu inspired by patterns on contemporary silverware in the late seventeenth century.

gather: The blob or mass of molten glass attached to the blowpipe or pontil before an object is formed from it.

Gothic: A pressed glass design that consists of concentric continuous oval arches.

Graal glass: A type of ornamental glass developed in Sweden in 1916. It was made by cutting and etching a pattern on coloured glass and then returning the piece to the furnace to give the design fluidity before encasing it in clear glass.

Greek key: A common design applied to glassware that consists of a continuous interlocking pattern of straight-edged scrolling at right angles.

grenade: In glassware, a grenade is a glass vessel with a globular body and narrow neck. At one time, they were used in attempt to put out fires. They would be filled with water, and then thrown into the flames.

grisaille: (Decorative painting in shades of grey on glass, sometimes used to imitate relief sculpture; (2) A brownish paint made from iron oxide, fused onto glass and used to define details in stained-glass windows.

ground: The background or base glass object on which decorations are applied.

grozing iron: A tool for snipping off a raw rim or edge of a piece of glass, leaving a slightly jagged edge.