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Imitating Renaissance Style
Enamelled Drinking Glasses
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Enamelled glasses are one of the simplest means of personalising or ‘spiffing’ up feast gear. Through careful choice of style and design, such glasses can be accurate for 13th Century personas right through to the end of period, and beyond.
Research The first thing you need to do is arm yourself with a variety of pictures of period glasses that you are interested in recreating. Become familiar with the styles, colours, shapes and sizes so that you will recognise a period style glass when you see one. Some useful and inspirational online resources include:
Preferences: After looking at a wide variety of period glasses you should be starting to develop ideas of what you do or don’t want. Good places to start are with things that are appropriate to your persona, household, or feast basket. For example, do you prefer:
Once you have decided on the basic glass you intend to purchase, (tumbler, wine glass, etc), you need to consider the type of glass you intend to make and any further requirements that has on the basic purchase. The purpose of the glass can also place certain requirements of the inital vessel you buy. A certain size, colour or glass quality might be predetermined by the type or purpose of the intended finished item, or the size of the decoration you intend. For example, do you plan for your:
Since your project will be limited by the glass-wear available for purchase, it is sensible to become familiar with variations within your preferred style. Learn not only the typical shapes, colours and embellishments, but also the exceptions and related styles. (For example the preceding and following glass types, and contemporary glasses of similar shapes.) You may have to resort to a less than perfect glass for your project unless you are prepared to wait indefinitely for the ideal vessel to become available.
Shopping: Places to look for good glass bases for these projects include everything from high-end home-ware stores to daggy junk shops and all the second-hand stores, warehouse outlets and catering stores in between. Check the obvious wine glasses and water sets, but don’t overlook cocktail glasses, vases (often ideal for Islamic beakers or Germanic humpens), sundae glasses, candle lanterns and bathroom glasses. Even food products packaged in glass can be surprisingly good sources of period style drinking vessels.
By now you should know the type of enamelling you are going to do, and the basic colours involved. But, it is generally a good idea to purchase the paints after you have the glasses because your final enamel design will rely on the glasses themselves. You will want
to know what colours and types of enamel you will need to purchase before
you start. It can be beneficial to purchase a couple of options for some colours. For example, we purchased a red filler and a red outliner, only to discover the two did not tone well together. The filler was a dark orange, while the outliner was candy pink. The black outliner we chose for future projects had to be used instead.
Designing: Once you have your glasses and a fair idea of what you are going to do, it is time to get down to the designing of the enamel decoration. >The first thing to do is to make a paper pattern to fit smoothly inside the bowl of the glass. You will probably have to make numerous small snips to allow edges to overlap. Ignore the urge to sticky tape these in position. Trace several flat outlines off this basic pattern. You will use these for designing the enamelling and ensuring an asthetically pleasing layout for the decoration. Test the paints you have purchased on the design. Have a bit of a play with all of the products you will be using. Use an old jam jar, window or even a glass table-top. (The Vitrea 160 products wash off in water). What you are looking for here is the degree of control you have with the products. For example
Once you have incorporated your abilities with the products into your motif and have a final design, cut out the pattern and check the enamel motif completely fits on the glass when the paper pattern is placed inside the vessel. At this stage it is often a good idea to indicate the colours of each design element on the pattern. Coloured pencils are very helpful, but just noting the colours can work aswell.
Painting: Preparation: Wash the glasses in hot soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly. Avoid touching the areas you intend to paint as the oils from your hands will adversely affect the adhesion of the enamels. Replace the paper pattern in the glass and secure with sticky tape or press the pattern close to the surface by pouring rice or lentils into the glass. Painting: Follow the instructions on the enamel products you are using. Working at eye level reduces the distortion of the pattern caused by curved glass. If the work surface is just below eye-level, it is possible to rest the forearms on the edge of a the table for a steadier hand and more even outlines. Filling in is often most easily accomplished by holding the glass in your non-dominant hand while painting. This allows greater control of the angle of the glass and eliminates the risk of knocking it over. Some people find it is easiest to draw the outlines and then fill in the gaps. This is the reverse of the period method where the enamellers painted the backgrounds first and used the outlines to neaten the edges. Of course, others swear by this method while using modern products. Experiment to find your preference. And don’t be afraid to test each colour on your spare jar, window or glass table-top as you go. There may be some variation in consistency between the different colours.
Vitrea 160 glass paints Tips. Make sure the environmental humidity level is not too low. On hot, dry Nor’Wester days the Vitrea background colours dry instantaneously. This clogs up your brush and makes it impossible to get a smooth, even background colour. The tubes contain thick, opaque colours, while the bottles contain transparent shades. Thin layers dry fast, but don’t necessarily like being painted over. Thick layers take longer to dry and will bubble in the oven if not given a lot of extra time to dry. Thin, brush applied paint spreads slightly on firing if not contained within outlining. Always let your pieces dry for more than the recommended 24 hours. Paint will bubble if you don’t allow it to dry sufficiently before baking. But, that bubbling is period as it can be seen on such famous glasses as the Aldrevandini beaker. Make sure the glasses are not too close to the element in your oven. Check which elements work when the oven is on ‘bake’ – sometimes it is just the bottom element and sometimes it is the both. The enamels can be ‘over-baked’, if placed too close to your elements, causing colour change. Any mistakes, or spills, can be cleaned up easily as the paints are water soluble until firing. A good supply of cotton buds and tissues will of great use.
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