Stained Glass & Colored Glass Vases

This mix of materials was not the sole factor determining the color of stained glass windows or colored glass vases. The temperature and atmosphere of the furnace, the duration of the melting, and the concentration and composition of the colorant all affected the color of the final product.

Some of the materials historically used to make stained glass vases and windows are now known to be unsafe. For example, adding uranium to a batch would yield fluorescent yellow or green glass, but uranium is now more likely to be used to make a bomb rather a colored glass vase.

Of course the main difference between stained glass vases and colored glass vases is that stained glass vases are constructed from many individual pieces of colored glass taken from different glass batches. Typically these individual pieces are soldered together using copper foil or zinc, whereas a colored glass vase can be produced from a single batch of glass.

How Glass Colors Are Made
For easy reference, here's a list of different glass colors and the substances that can be used to create them. Many of the substances listed can have variable results, so some of them are mentioned multiple times. Colored glass vases are typically made from a mix of materials rather than a single colorant.

• Black:
  Sulfur used in combination with carbon and iron salts can produce black glass.
• Blue:
  Nickel will sometimes create blue glass, as will small amounts of cobalt. Adding iron oxide to a batch will yield blue-green colored glass.
• Green:
  If you want to make a green stained glass vase, mix iron oxide with chromium for a richer green, or chromium with arsenic and tin oxide for an emerald green.
• Orange-Red:
  Silver nitrate might produce orange-red colored glass, while selenium will range anywhere from pink to red.
• Purple:
  Manganese has been used since ancient Egypt to create beautiful purple colored glass.
• Red:
  A number of substances will produce red glass singly or in combination, including gold, copper, and selenium.
• White:
  If you own an opaque white glass vase, it may have been made from tin oxide mixed with antimony and arsenic oxide.
• Yellow:
  Varying shades of yellow colored glass will be produced by cadmium, silver, sulfur, and titanium.