There is a TV show on the Discovery Channel I enjoy watching. "How ir's Made" is the name of this show, and while watching an episode last week I was pleasantly surprised to see they were going to show how real Tiffany glass was made. I stayed glued to this show as I have a couple pieces of Tiffany glass and am interested in not just collecting Tiffany glass but also stained glass, opalescent glass, and many different types of decorative glass. The show moves quickly but from what I can remember the process of making, say, as Tiffany glass lamp shade begin's with an artist laying out the pattern they want the Tiffany glass pieces to cover. This pattern is then numbered so the individual laying the separate pieces of decorative glass will know what goes where. This is where I found the process really interesting--the next artist then fashions the copper, silver, or lead wire framework to match the original drawing. They fit these pieces together with a lead solder and gradually build the wire you see surrounding a finished Tiffany glass product. The original drawing is placed on different sheets of Tiffany glass and the shapes are traced onto this decorative glass panel. Each piece is then hand cut and fitted into the framework of wire. This is now when more molten lead is poured around the edges of the glass and wire frame to solidly hold the piece's of individual glass in place. I found the entire process very fascinating and informative. While searching online for Tiffany glass lamp shades for a dining room light I stumbled upon a really interesting item on the Circuit Values web site located online at http://www.circuitvalues.com. I found this item so interesting I thought other might like to know about it.
tiffany glass, decorative glass This is a picture of the APOLLO 40th MEDALLION - contains Apollo flown metal. Yes, according to signed statements endorsed by NASA this cool medallion contains metal from one of the space flights to the moon. How cool is that! What a great conversation piece and as an addition to any collection of NASA and space related collectables. The medallion is stamped on both sides commemorating the moon landing's and comes with a beautiful holder/stand. Finding something like this while searching online for a totally unrelated item is what makes online shopping and browsing so interesting. I know just the spot on my fireplace mantle for this very unusual item.