Many times we come across people who are interested in stained glass but haven’t learned enough about it to really know if a piece of glass is a true work of art or just a good piece. I once overheard a woman joking about a piece of glass that had been painted with fake glass paints, the kind that craft stores sell. “Oh look at that, I love stained glass, that’s just exquisite!” His comments were pleasant as he appreciated art glass, but they were also ridiculous because painted fake glass is simply not in the same class as other techniques and should certainly never be described as “exquisite.”

So that incident prompted me to write this short description of what the different types and qualities of stained glass are. After reading the following paragraphs, you will be more qualified and better able to distinguish between good glass and excellent glass than most people you meet. You will be on your way to becoming a “stained glass expert”.

1. Brass and glass – made of preformed brass (or lead-brass-lined) metal, called “wine”. The stained glass is encased in the preformed metal and then the joints where the metal meets are welded. After the panel is completed and welded, the joints are colored with a brass-colored paint to make them look like brass.

Pros: Brass windows match brass hardware in many homes. Brass windows are almost always mass produced, so the cost is usually lower than other styles of stained glass.

Disadvantages: Brass windows generally do not stick glass and metal together, so they are not as strong and tend to rattle more often than any other stained glass. If the panel is sandwiched between sheets of tempered glass, the lack of resistance is not a big problem.

Quality – This is the lowest quality of stained glass available and is generally found in cheap furniture and mass produced door frames. It hasn’t been around for a long time and is often associated with the cheap waterbeds of the 1960s.

2. Leaded glass – refers to both beveled glass and colored glass surrounded by preformed lead, called “wine”. The window is coated with lead and then the joints where the metal meets are welded. Solder and lead look very similar, so no special joint treatments are needed like it came with brass. Once the panel is finished and welded, the windows are cemented by forcing cement under the metal and glass. The exposed glass is then thoroughly cleaned.

Advantages: Leaded construction is the most common type of glass you can find. If it is well cemented, the window is quite strong. The leaded method is quick to build, making it quite popular in commercial installations.

Disadvantages: If the window is not cemented, the lead will stretch easily over time and the glass shapes will deform quite easily. Windows that are placed in insulated units cannot be cemented because the cement reacts with the desiccant in the foam tape used to create insulated units.

Quality: This is the middle range of stained glass quality. Not bad, just not the best. There are very good details available on this type of panel and it is quite good for many styles of glass design. If it wasn’t good enough, it wouldn’t be found in so many highly respected facilities.

3. Copper laminated glass or “Tiffany style” – refers to the construction of stained glass windows where each piece of glass is individually wrapped in a copper foil tape and the spaces between the glass are soldered with lead and tin based solder, usually 50/50 mix or 60/40 mix . Once the panel is completed, it is very strong and often airtight. Chemicals are then added to color the lead lines, either copper, bronze, or black. The lines can also be left pewter gray or can be polished to a shiny silver color. It is often called the “Tiffany Style” because Louis Comfort Tiffany’s studios are credited with devising the method in the late 19th century.

Advantages: The copper foil windows are very strong and allow the artist the greatest detail of any of the construction methods. It also allows for most of the patinas ranges of the methods discussed. The copper foil method allows an artist to follow contours, which is why lampshades and other 3D constructions are almost always constructed using this method.

Disadvantages: It takes a lot of work and time consuming to hand solder each and every solder line in a window, so these panels generally cost more than the leaded type. Also, because the resulting windows are very strong, they can develop very slight cracks as the glass expands and contracts in the heat of the day and the cool of the night. These cracks generally develop within the first year after a panel is installed and are minor.

Quality: This is the highest quality of stained glass, but there are different quality ranges in this style. Imports often have very thin lead lines, not as a design element, but as a way to save money on the amount of lead used to build the panel. Lamps constructed from the highest quality copper foil will feature a constructed lead line that will often be held at the same height as an extruded lead line. Better quality solder will have very consistent lead lines and few, if any, areas where the lead has shrunk after cooling.

4. Epoxy glued faceted glass – refers to a technique in which thick glass slabs are broken into rough pieces and glued together with epoxy glue to form the joint between the different pieces of glass. It is very rare and is not available in any commercial construction other than the most unusual.