A Bohemian deer etched amber cut glass goblet and cover, 19th century, 11.81 in. high. Provenance: The Collection of Sir Tristan and Lady Antico, Sydney
- Cut Glass - Cut glass is glassware decorated with facets, grooves and depressions of various sizes and shapes, made by cutting into the surface of the glass using a rotating abrasive wheel. The glass is ground so the surface consists of facets, which have a high degree of light refraction, so that the surface sparkles.
The techniques of glass cutting had been known since the 8th century BC, and the practice was revived in Bohemia and Germany in the early part of the 16th century and in England in the 18th century. Cutting became the most common method of decorating glass in the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th century.
- Etched - Glass decorated with an etched design, which is achieved through marking out the pattern, protecting the area that is not be etched, and then immersing the object in acid to dissolve the surface of the unprotected area. With some glass objects, such as cameo glass, there may be several layers of different coloured glass, and part of the top layer is dissolved leaving the bottom layer as the background. The longer the time of exposure of the object to acid, the deeper the etching.
The word etching is also sometimes used to describe another method of decoration, where wheel grinders were used decorate the surface, but this technique is usually known as engraving.
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Bohemian (Czech Republic) glass wares