Glass Engraving Techniques.
The art of engraving is a fascinating subject in itself and will describe some of the techniques used to decorate glass from the 18th century onwards, describing the technique and how methods of engraving changed over time on glass.
Diamond Point Engraving
Diamond point engraving was carried out on 18th century glass and was performed by scratching a diamond on the surface to create continuous lines on the glass and was a popular technique as this did not require any special tools and was quite popular at the time with some fabulous engraving on Jacobite glasses.
Stipple Engraving
Stipple or stippling comprised of a more refined form of diamond point engraving using tools creating tiny dots and some of the most fabulous examples were carried out on Newcastle Light Balusters that were sent from England to Holland where the Dutch master engravers would engrave the glass and send it back to England.
Wheel Engraving
This was carried out by holding the wine glass against a turning stone or metal wheel and the glass was cooled using water and in some early engraving sand was also used to give a matt effect where parts could then be polished on the engraving being quite primitive however examples of engraved glass on the continent being more superior up until 1740.
There is a variant of copper wheel engraving where the glass is first cut using a deep wheel to engrave and then using hydrofluoric acid to remove the excess metal and this is known as carving in low and high relief.
Cutting developed rather later in England due to the taxes imposed on glass, however these duties were not imposed on glass produced in Ireland causing a mass migration and glasshouses set up in Ireland having come from England and the glass industry flourished from 1780 to 1825 with lots of glass being exported back to England and America.
Duties on glass were abolished in England around this time and this brought a decline to the glass industry in Ireland with many glasshouses moving back to England where engraving flourished in areas such as Stourbridge.
Copper Wheel Engraving
This was developed using small copper wheels and will be discussed in more detail with designs by Joseph Keller and other famous engravers.