ABOUT      

For over 30 years, utilizing traditional, centuries-old techniques, Glassmasters has been painstakingly reproducing in miniature the works of Tiffany Studios, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marc Chagall, John La Farge and other great stained glass makers. Originally located in New York, the company later moved to Richmond in Virginia in order to be closer to many of the museums, galleries and houses of worship whose original works they were reproducing. To this day all of Glassmasters' stained glass works are made in their workshops in Richmond.

The Glassmasters collection now also includes many new works which transform the works of famous painters and even photographers into stained glass. Artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Gaugin, Klimpt, Lassen and Kinkade. In addition to these window panels of varying sizes Glassmasters also manufactures Tiffany style lamps and a range of exquisite table-top boxes.

Glassmasters holds licenses to reproduce many of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany, and frequently obtains access to original works which are not normally accessible to the viewing public. Licenses and access are regularly granted to Glassmasters by museums, churches and other owners of original works by many great artists including John La Farge, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ando Hirosige as well as centuries-old works by long-forgotton craftsmen such as the Rose Window from the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

It is no coincidence that several of the greatest museums in the world have chosen Glassmasters for their own reproductions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Folger Shakespeare Library, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The process of making these beautiful works of art begins with European-made cathedral and other fine glasses. Onto these colored enamels are applied in differing densities to achieve color and shading effects. Each color has to be applied separately and then oven dried at around 300 degrees Fahrenheit before the next color can be applied and, depending on the complexity of the design, this can mean over 20 separate applications. The final firing is at temperatures approaching 1100 degrees Fahrenheit at which point the enamels become permanently fused into the glass. Glassmasters' colors are guaranteed never to fade.

Whether it is a copy of an actual stained glass window by Tiffany or Frank Lloyd Wright, a reproduction of a painting by Vincent van Gogh or Thomas Kinkade, or a photograph of a mad bluebird, the thing that they all have in common is that they look gorgeous when light streams through them. It does not have to be sunlight either. Although they look great when used as sun-catchers they can look just as beautiful on a stand with backlighting from an artificial source.

For more information about Glassmasters please feel free to visit their website .