Page 34 - May2008

THE JANE FORD ADAMS AND MEMBER-SUPPORTED COLOR FUNDS
PRESENT THE FOLLOWING COLOR PAGES

A. Acid Etched/abraded (matte) was invented by accident when a Murano glass artist
There is a great black glass swirlback with an acid etched spilled copper filings into the glass batch. The glass that
pattern, as well as the three shown. resulted from that happy mistake was named aventurine
-Q ventura is Italian for "by chance."
B. Back marks (See example on page 76.)
2. Other less common colors are "true" orange,
C. Bound with Thread
opaque red, lavender/purple, opaque yellow, opaque
D. Colors powder or baby blue, taupe, pink and gray.
The color of a glass button is determined by the color
3. Intermixed. The most popular intermixed colors
visible at the shank or back of the button. Overlays,
in the Victorian era seem to have been the purples and
decorative finishes (including matte finish) and/or
browns. Intermixed buttons can be opaque, translucent
embellishments do not affect the base color.
or transparent multi·color glass, including blends, slag
There are 9 basic colors for competitive purposes. They and imitation tortoise. More than one color must be
are red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown visible on the button back. If the front is mixed but the
and gray, although the "Colors assorted" section also back isn't, the button is obviously an overlay.
includes intermixed, goldstone and white. Include a
E. Coronets
range of colors, clear colorless, as well as opaque, trans-
Look for ones that are a bit out of the ordinary-unusual
lucent and transparent. In general, transparent colors are shapes, interesting color combinations, or those with
easier to find than opaque or translucent. Harder·to·find overlay. Particularly desirable coronets include colored
colors are ... glass tops in hard-to-find colors such as yellow, coronets
1. Goldstone (l1ot overlay, but a solid goldstone body) with overlay such as the twisted cane, and the flower
was originally called Venetian brown and gold, and coronets with lampworked leaves or petals.
consists of copper colored metallic particles blended into
F. Crackle Glass
clear glass. It is possibly the hardest swirlback color to
Because almost all crackle pieces were made exclusively
find. Folklore has it that goldstone (or aventurine) glass
of transparent glass, it is often referred to as "ice glass."
Bunons in this article are from the collection of the author, as well as from Barbara Barrans, Gil Biggie, Yessy Byl, Deb Chrowl, Grace
Folsom, Joni Goldbarg, Jocelyn Howells, Rebecca Lyon, Katrinka Quirk. Marilyn Regrut, Evie Renz, Chris Shreve, and Peggy Swassing.
Page design and production by Nikki Deal.
THE NATIONAL 'BU'T'TOn BULLETIN - MAY 2008