History Enameled Glass

The first known examples of the history enameled glass were found as early as the 5th century B.C. in Greece. These were used to define ornamental details on the robes of metal sculptures. This is the first time that enameling seems to have appeared, and then nothing more on it has been found until the 3rd century A.D., in Celtic Britain and Ireland. In this regard, the work of the Irish is considdered quite superior.



Enameling is defined as applying a thin coat of glass in powdered form (enamel), to metal, which is then heated until the glass melts, and fuses to the metal. The resulting out come would be called champleve' and cloisnne'. Champleve' will have large areas of metal showing, whereas cliosnne' will have only the very thin strips of metal between the colors of glass. Many times, the powdered glass shrinks considerably, so the process may have to be repeated again and again.


The first documented stained glass windows appeared in France, during the 11th Century. Quite a time span had elapsed form the champleve' and cloisnne' in Celtic Britain. The art of enameling had traveled east toward Constantinople. At thhe same time, it was also moving in from the west, in Persia, now Iran.

Champlene' and cloiisnne' was now embraced as an art, and now brought to perfection.


History enameled glass helped bring the onset of stained glass into view. Many colored windows were found in the later Eastern mosques, denoting two distinct types, the first, geometric in design,and the second, organic. The second type were usually a floral design, eminating from a round bowl or vase. They were set in alabaster or stone frett work, and the small pieces of glass that were used for this were usually of a poor quality. Even though the quality of glass was poor, only small pieces were used, the result being a very good effect.

Three areas of the history enameled glass lead directly to the origin of stained glass. The first was the discovery of how to make glass. The second was early references to windows made of glass, weather it was plain or decorated, and the third was the art of enameling glass.

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