A lamp is what we used to call a bulb. An “A-Lamp” is a shape of lamp, similar to a hot­ air ­balloon, having a round globe top that necks down to a narrow base.

Abalone is the natural mollusk shell, the interior surface of which yields mother of pearl, a thin, translucent and iridescent material that can be incorporated into leaded glass shades or inlaid in base materials. Tony Duquette once said that if there were just one abalone shell in the world, wars would be fought over it for its beauty. 

Acanthus is a Mediterranean plant whose leaves, according to the Roman architectural writer Vitruvius, growing through a wicker basket, suggested the Corinthian capital to the Greek sculptor Callimachus. This stylized leaf was widely used in classic Greek and Roman architecture and decoration, as well as in later revivals of these styles

Acid etching is the process of frosting or eroding the surface of glass with hydrofluoric acid. Often used simply to frost clear glass, acid etching can also be used to produce decoration by the craftsperson selectively masking the glass with an acid-resist, such as wax. A design can be scraped through the resist layer or the resist layer can be applied in a pre-cut pattern , not dissimilar to how easter eggs are decorated. The glass with its prepared stencil mask is then immersed in a bath of hydrofluoric acid. The design made by the contrasting etched and clear areas is revealed when the mask is removed.

Acid polishing is a similar process to acid etching, though with different chemistry. In my view, this a cheap shortcut around mechanical polishing, suitable only for plain work. When glass is submerged in polishing acid, the surface is eroded away, leaving a smooth surface. For instance, rough cutting and grinding can be made smooth and shiny. However, the process, when used to skip the last steps of traditional hand polishing on decorative cut work, leaves a wholly unsatisfying melted appearance to the work: sharp edges are dulled, characteristic quirks and facets of hand work are blurred. 

Adam is a style of architecture, art and decoration initially lasting from approximately 1775 to 1810 based on the work of the brothers Robert and James Adam who were English architects. The Adam Brothers were among the first “Neoclassical period” designers. Their work was influenced by a new close observation of Roman excavations in Pompeii and Spalatro. Characteristics of their style are chaste low-relief detail, slender, fine, straight lines, symmetry, and classical Roman and Greek scenes and ornamentation. They later drew inspiration from Chinese and even medieval Gothic period sources.

Alabaster is a very finely-grained variety of either gypsum or calcite mined in Egypt, Spain, Italy, and England, among other locations. It is translucent and its color is white to dark amber. It sometimes has veins of contrasting black or brown bands running through it. Because of its translucence, thin panels of alabaster are used as glazing in light fixtures. Carved vessels of alabaster, in the form of domes, spheres, or drums are often used for shades of light fixtures.

An alloy is a metal blend made of two or more elemental metals or a metal and a non-metal. We talk about alloys in metalworking all the time as very little metal is worked in the decorative arts in its pure form. An example of a metal/metal alloy would be brass, a mixture of copper and zinc with other trace metals. An example of a metal/non-metal alloy would be steel, an alloy of iron and carbon.

Aluminum is a whitish grey metal, with a high strength to weight ratio and superior heat transfer characteristics. When polished it yields a cool, slightly bluish, silver mirror finish resembling chrome. Aluminum smelts and casts well and is very easily formed at room temperature in most traditional fabrication methods such as: spinning, forging, bending, & machining. Aluminum is straightforward to weld and quite difficult to solder.

Amalgam is an alloy of mercury and another metal, found in the world of decorative arts most often in the production of gilded articles. Before the advent of electroplating, one would achieve the permanent application of gold to a base metal, such as bronze, by applying an amalgam of mercury and gold to the surface of an object. When heated in a furnace, the mercury would burn off, while acting as a flux to alloy with and adhere the gold to the base object. I read a grim footnote about the process in a history of the silver industry in Sheffield England: that the highest wages were paid to the artisans engaged in mercury gilding as a result of its well known, even at that time, deadly toxic effects on workers.  

Amethyst is a type of natural quartz crystal with metallic impurities that produce a violet or mauve tint.

Annealing is the process of heating and then carefully cooling glass or metal in a controlled fashion to relieve stresses, soften, toughen, adjust tension, and impart various other characteristics to the object. In glass making, a very common use of annealing is the slow cooling of thick glass to relieve stresses and impart toughness. In brasswork, annealing is commonly used to remove brittleness imparted by cold-working processes like raising, spinning, or bending. See also Tempering.

An anvil is a hard metal form, usually steel, on which a metalsmith hammers their work. Anvils can be of many shapes, from the classic Western horned style to Asian block anvils. Anvils can be small, weighing a few pounds, and suited for benchtop work or over a quarter ton and secured to independent foundations. Many specialized anvils are made to aid particular work. Usually, the anvil has a hardened top work surface. Occasionally, they are intended to be dropped on roadrunners, but almost infallibly, land on coyotes.

Anodizing is an electrochemical process for imparting corrosion resistance on a reactive metal and is often a first step in a metal dying process. Most commonly associated with aluminum, anodizing is effected by attaching the article to the anode in an electrolytic bath. When electrical current is applied to the system, a hard, stable oxide layer forms on the aluminum. This layer is resistant to scratching and further corrosion while also being porous enough to absorb dye for decorative effect. 

An anthemion is a decorative motif of Greek origin, consisting of a radiating pattern of petals, resembling the honeysuckle flower or palm leaf. See also “Palmette”.

An apron is a horizontal border on the underside of a shelf, ledge, or table top. See also “Skirt”.

An arabesque is ornamentation consisting of an interlacing design of foliage.

A construction that spans space and supports its own weight as well as the weight of the structure above it. Arches are typically curved, though they have many variations.

An arm is the projecting element of a light fixture that supports the candle, lamp, or shade. In a wall-mounted fixture, the arm usually projects from the backplate on the wall to support the globe or body of a lantern, candle, or shade-bearing cup. In a multi-arm chandelier, the arm usually projects from the body to support the candle or shade-bearing cup. An arm can take many forms, from a literal, anthropomorphic arm, to a straight pipe, to a tree branch or leaf, to a scroll or bracket or other architectural form, to further inventive and fanciful shapes.

An arm-receiver bowl is a decorative covering of the arm-receiver plate. In the traditional architecture of a chandelier or wall sconce, this vessel, commonly made of silvered glass or metal, conceals the juncture of the arms and serves as a vessel to contain their wiring junctions or gas manifold, if any.

In the traditional architecture of a chandelier or wall sconce, an arm-receiver plate is a metal plate with square or round holes into which the mating male ends of the arms connect. It is not commonly visible or decorative. In some sconces the arm receiver plate is located at the armback and most multi-arm chandeliers it is located in a central place in the column of the body. In older, high-quality, hand-made light fixtures, the position of each arm in the arm receiver plate would be hand-filed and precisely fit by the craftsmen. These positions then would be inscribed on both mating parts with a series of hashes, dots, numbers, or some other system of identification to aid the final assembly, which would be performed by a separate team of craftsmen.

An armback is the visible element that supports the arm from the point where it springs off the backplate (in the case of a sconce) or body (in the case of a chandelier).

Art Deco is a style of architecture, art, and decoration lasting from approximately 1920 to about 1940. This period takes its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industririels Modernes of 1925. The unifying hallmarks of the period were an interest in simplified, geometric forms, speed, machine design, and products engineered for mass production. There were roughly two branches of the Art Deco movement, one interested in applying abstracting, essentializing, geometric aesthetic treatment to all objects, be they teapots, book bindings, or automobiles, and the other interested in form following function, rather than the decorative treatment of surfaces per se.

Art Glass is a broad term meant to describe the many hand-made, variegated color, glass materials used in manufacturing lighting fixtures and leaded, stained glass windows.

Art Nouveau is a style of architecture, art and decoration lasting from approximately 1880 to 1925 whose hallmark is asymmetry and a serpentine whiplash line. The style was inspired by plant and animal forms in nature, which were rendered in attenuated, stylized detail. Some of the leading Art Nouveau designers were H. Guimard, L.C. Tiffany, A. Gaudi, C. R. Mackintosh, and A. Beardsley.

Arts and Crafts is a style of architecture, art and decoration lasting from approximately 1880-1920 and strongest in the US, England, and Germany. The style emphasized decoration derived from construction techniques (e.g. expressed mortise and tenon joinery or nail heads) and hand-crafted products with the toolmarks left intact. The philosophical wellspring of this movement was an antipathy to the alienation of the craftsman from his work in an industrial setting, and a rose-tinted view of the medieval guild and cathedral school systems of production. The style’s overall influence on the designs of lighting fixtures consists of generally plain surfaces, simple blocky forms, ornamentation that is derived from the craft process itself such as hammer-marks, bold wood grain, and simple, flat, nature-derived, stenciled decoration. See also "Mission Style".

Aurene is brand of glass developed by Stueben in the early 20th century, having an iridescent character and a gold or blue color, depending on the metal salts used in the batch. 

A backplate is the point of attachment for a sconce to a wall. Common forms are ovals, rectangles, hemispheres, and shields, but there are no decorative boundaries for a backplate. Since the advent of gas and electric services run in walls, the backplate has taken on the role of covering the service junction box.

In the language of traditional baroque chandelier design, the ball is commonly a spherical or ovoid body in the column or stem of the fixture. It is often the focal point and single largest element. The ball may serve as the element from which the arms spring.

A ballast is an electrical device used with fluorescent lamps to supply sufficient voltage to start and operate the lamp but then to limit the current during operation.

A baluster is a turned, attenuated vase-shaped vertical post supporting the rail of a staircase. Also known as a spindle. In the language of traditional chandelier design, a central stem of a fixture composed of balls, necks, columns, tapers, etc., is called a baluster-form body.

Baroque is a style of architecture, art, and decoration lasting from approximately 1625 to 1750, whose hallmarks are curvilinear details, highly sculptural, active surfaces, theatrical effects in architecture that act independently of structure, asymmetry, and rich materials. Common motifs include bold, deep, opposing “C” scrolls, bulbous elaborate profiles in turnings and mouldings, spiral columns, and naturalistic, if overripe, foliate details.

Basaltware is a dark, blackish brown, opaque porcelain invented by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795).

A base is the broad, weighted foot of a table or floor lamp that sits on the table surface or floor.

Beading is a decorative detail consisting of bands of tightly spaced beads. The beads can be ½-round, full-round, or fully two-dimensional, as in painted work.

A bellflower is a foliate motif usually consisting of small two or three-lobed flowers, often arrayed in graduated pendants or in garlands.

Flat glass that is heated in a kiln until it becomes plastic and then slumps into or over a mold to produce curved, volumetric shapes is then known as bent glass or slumped glass.

A bevel is the edge of any flat surface that has been cut at a distinct angle to the larger plane surface.

Bidri ware is characterized by bright silver fine line detailing inlaid in a blackened zinc-copper alloy substrate. This work originated in the city of Bidar in India. 

The billiard light was developed to evenly illuminate the large rectangular playing surface of a billiard table. Billiard lights are commonly designed with three or more downward-reflecting shades arrayed along a long horizontal bar.

Anthropomorphic figures used in decorative arts as busts, hermes, or other elements with black complexion. Usually dressed with exaggerated Arabic or African costumes, they sometimes personify the African continent in a composition of the Allegory of the Continents. 

Blacksmithing is the process of working iron or steel. There are a few basic components to a smith’s work: a source for heating the metal, such as a coal or gas forge, an anvil made of heavy cast or forged iron with a hardened steel top plate, and hammers. When wrought iron and steel are heated to a glowing orange or higher temperature, stretching, bending, twisting, swelling and other forming processes become achievable. 

Glass that is made on a blowpipe. The glass blower gathers molten glass on the end of his blowpipe, then blows air into a molten ball of glass, creating a bubble. This ball is then inflated, elongated, patterned, etc. to suit the designer’s need.

This deserves a pronunciation guide: Bō-besh : A shallow dish around a candle cup originally used for catching wax drips. It is located either directly on top of the candle cup or directly below the candle cup, and in some cases, in both locations. See also "Waxpan".

The body is the central element of a chandelier, of almost any shape or style, from which the arms radiate. See also "Column".

A bollard light is a type of exterior light fixture, mounted directly to the ground or to masonry, usually illuminating paths in a landscape or streetscape. Bollards are distinguished from other exterior post-mounted lamps by their short height.

A yellow-gold metal alloy of approximately 70% copper and 30% zinc. Brass is somewhat cold-workable, though it has brittle, work-hardening qualities. There are tons of common brass alloys, each with divergent uses and workability characteristics. Brass can be polished to a mirror-like reflective surface. Brass is highly corrosion-resistant, though it does oxidize from light brown to black in dry interior settings, to bright green in exterior settings. To complicate things, some brasses are called bronzes in trade names and industrial conventions. Brass can be cast, rolled into sheets, turned on a lathe, hammered at room temperature into shapes, etc.

Brazing is the process of joining two metals together with a dissimilar metal at a high temperature. The dissimilar metal is called the solder, and the work is called the base metal. Silver and brass are the two most common solders used. Brazing is distinguished from lead or tin soldering (so called soft soldering) by the higher strength of the resulting joint and the higher temperature needed to produce it.

A bridge arm lamp is a type of table or floor lamp having a cantilevered arm that holds the shade and socket. The arm is often pivotable as well as height-adjustable.

A pinkish-gold color metal alloy of approximately 90% copper and 10% tin. Bronze is quite cold workable, with minor work-hardening qualities. There are hundreds of common bronze alloys, each with divergent uses and workability characteristics. Bronze can be polished to a mirror-like reflective surface. Bronze is highly corrosion-resistant, though it does oxidize from light brown to black in dry interior settings, to bright green in exterior settings. Though bronze is most famous for its superior flow and finish in casting processes, it can also be rolled into sheets, turned on a lathe, hammered at room temperature into shapes, hot-forged like iron, etc.

French for "gilded bronze". The term commonly means bronze with an ornamental coating of gold leaf, gold electroplating, fire-gilding, or other surface application of real or imitation gold.

A light source within a glass housing. See also "Lamp".

A mixture of alcohol and turpentine, used as lamp fuel in the 19th century. Dangerously explosive, it was replaced by kerosene in the late 1850s.

A process used to brighten metal by rubbing it with another harder metal. Gold, silver, brass, and other soft metals are burnished by rubbing with steel tools having smooth, highly-polished ends. The burnishing tool flattens down and evens out micro peaks and valleys in the metal.  

A metal wire or wires, sometimes arranged in a covering of insulating fabric, rubber, plastic or other materials and used as an electrical conductor.

Came is a metal channel, either shaped as a C or an H, used for assembling glass windows. Came is commonly available made of lead or zinc.

A small low-relief carving having contrasting layers of color or opacity, often made in materials such as cased (layered) glass, semi-precious stone, or shell. The subject matter is often classical mythological scenes, figures, or faces in profile. The term cameo can also encompass painted representations of carved work.

A candela (cd) is a unit of measurement of luminous intensity of a light source in a given direction. The candela is distinguished from the lumen by the candela’s focus on intensity in a specific direction, whereas a lumen is a measure of all of the light emitted from a source regardless of direction.

A light source made of wax or tallow, molded around a yarn or cord wick, which when burning, provides steady light by drawing the molten wax up towards the flame. The wick burns only incidentally as the true source of combustion is the wax. Candles are commonly cylindrical in form as a result of the process of repeatedly dipping the wick in molten wax and accreting layers. However, candles can be cast in many forms.

A socket or receptacle for a candle or candle sleeve. A candle cup is usually positioned above the bobeches, last in the sequence of parts of a chandelier or sconce arm.

Candles first appear in lighting fixtures in the first millennium BCE in Egyptian, Minoan, and Mesopotamian cultures. The candles likely had a vegetal fiber core, like rush pith, rather than today’s cotton wick, and were dipped in beeswax or animal fats. The earliest candles were held in metal rests, and later, as the candles themselves became more substantial and assumed the elongated torpedo or column shape with which we are familiar, they were held in a candelabra. The materials and techniques for making candles varied over the next ~3,000 years, but they share the same basic technology of a vegetable-fiber -based wick, dipped in animal fats or beeswax. Candle-powered fixtures share some formal attributes: they need a cup or pricket in or on which they hold the candle, a pan or shallow bowl to catch the drips, and a stand or base to hold the cup and candle. Multiple candles are set apart from each other and from the central stem to not melt each other and disperse light evenly.

A candle sleeve is a cylinder of material (metal, paperboard, ceramic, or glass) that covers the electrical socket or gas nipple, with the decorative intention of appearing like a candle.

An antiquated term for luminous intensity of a light source in a direction, now replaced by the term candela.

An electric light fixture characterized by a tall, slim column modeled after a traditional single candlestick.

The canopy is a decorative ceiling mount, most often in the form of a dome or bell, for a hanging light fixture. The canopy serves to cover the connection point between the fixture and the building structure and to conceal the electrical or gas junction-box in the ceiling.

The decorative crowning motif atop a column or pilaster shaft, usually composed of moldings, volutes, and foliate ornament. Each of the classical orders of architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, & Composite) have distinct, defining capitals.  

A thin, translucent, slightly amber, natural shell material used in lighting fixture lenses.

A shield or ovoid form with curved or rolled edges suggesting a scroll shape. Often used as a ground for crests and inscriptions.  

A column in the form of a female figure. Derived from Greek architecture, it is most famously used on the porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis at Athens. The male equivalent of a caryatid is a telamon, atlantid, or herm.  

Cased glass is glass formed by layering two or more different colors of glass together. Sometimes for decorative effect, the top layer is cut back to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting color. Cased glass is sometimes referred to as "overlay glass.” White-over-clear cased glass appears similar to solid white glass when not illuminated; however, it is more translucent than solid white glass as the layer of opaque white is thin. The process for producing cased glass articles starts with the glass blower gathering a small amount of glass type A on the end of the blowpipe, forming a bubble, and immersing that bubble into a different colored glass B, thereby building up layers.

Cast glass is glass that has been poured, and often pressed, into a mold. The resulting glass object bears the details of the mold. The casting process can produce great wall thicknesses, asymmetrical designs, and crisp relief.

Cast iron is an alloy of iron and small amounts of carbon and silicon. It has a low melting point and flows well in molds. It is very machinable (drilling, turning, etc.) but is brittle and not cold-formable like wrought iron.

Casting is the production of an article in which a material, in its liquid state, is poured into a mold, and after cooling, the material solidifies and is pulled or broken free of the mold. The result, generally called a casting or a cast, is a solid copy of the shape and details found in the mold in a new material. The principal elements here are: a pattern which is used to make a mold, the casting material, and the mold material. The variety of materials suitable for casting and the type of casting methods are diverse; many are described in distinct sections of this glossary.

A flexible series of links of ovals, circles, rectangles, or other shapes interconnected to form a suspension for a hanging chandelier or pendant, or other fixture. Chains are most often made of metal, but other materials are occasionally used, such as wood or glass.

The word derives from candle-maker (chandler). A ceiling-¬hung lighting fixture usually designed with multiple projecting arms. Chandeliers are often designed to spread light horizontally for general room illumination, as opposed to vertically, as in the case of a pendant. Chandeliers are commonly used to illuminate dining rooms, living rooms, large processional and ceremonial spaces, and large foyers.

Chasing is the finishing step or steps in producing finely detailed metalwork. The surface of the metal is hammered and filed by the craftsperson, called a chaser, with a selection of hundreds of different fine chisels, each producing finer definition in lines, accentuating beading, or hatching and matting backgrounds, surfaces, etc.

A vented element of a lamp or lantern construction that facilitates the flow of hot air through and out a fixture body. A chimney could be a blown glass tube of various shapes placed around flame to protect it against wind, while the rising hot air produces a draft, drawing cold air from below to aid combustion. A chimney could be a cylinder perforated with openings, under a roof of a metal lantern, to keep a set of light bulbs (and the whole fixture) cool.

European adaptation of Oriental designs popular mainly during late 17th¬ century French, Rococo and Regency periods, although persisting through the Art Deco period as well. Motifs used include pagodas, interlaced keys and fretwork, dragons, monkeys, and fans. Hallmarks of the style are asymmetrical compositions, lacquered surfaces, and blue¬-on-¬white porcelain decoration.

Thomas Chippendale (1718-¬1779) was one of the most famous cabinet makers of 18th¬ century England. His work shows a refinement of Georgian styles, influenced by Gothic, Chinese, and French Rococo influences. He was the first of his era to popularize the use of mahogany rather than walnut, the prevailing wood in the Early Georgian period. In 1754 he published "The Gentlemen's and Cabinetmaker's Directory," disseminating his designs and interpretations of styles.

Short for chromium, a hard white elemental metal (symbol Cr), used as an electroplated coating to produce a bright white or silver, usually highly polished, mirror finish effect. Chrome is a tough, resilient finish, suitable for truck bumpers and accents on machine age decorative components. Chrome largely eclipsed nickel in metal finishing on its introduction as it wears harder, is less impervious to atmospheric corrosion and scratching. It has a cool, bluish aspect as opposed to the more warm amber tones of nickel. Chrome does not perceptibly patinate. Chrome is also used as a critical alloy in steels to impart corrosion resistance. Many stainless steels rely on chromium for their title qualities.

The junction element between a lower group of several chains or stems and a single upper chain or stem. Also known as a cluster body. 

A column is a roughly-cylindrical form, used as a lamp or chandelier body, or a component of a larger chandelier body. See also "Body".  

A basic element (periodic table symbol Cu). Copper is a metal of peachy red color. It is very malleable at room temperature and workable into many forms (sheet, wire, plate, rod) with most common manufacturing techniques: spinning, forging, machining, drawing, etc., except casting which is of more than average difficulty for this metal. The name copper comes to us from the Latin name for the island of Cyprus (Cyprium) where copper has been mined for 4,000 years and which was the ancient Mediterranean’s most important source of the metal. Until very recently, on Cyprus you could explore active copper mines with original galleries dug by the Romans 2,000 years ago. Copper is a critical component in brass, where it’s alloyed with zinc and in bronze, where it’s alloyed with tin.  

Copper foiling is a technique for assembling leaded glass windows, shades, or other assemblies where a delicate, thin, framing on pieces of glass, especially small pieces, is desired. As solder will not adhere to glass, one needs to create a transition feature that will hold solder. The edge of each piece of glass in the composition is carefully wrapped in thin copper foil, a highly solderable metal. Solder is then run over the whole assembly, on both sides, and along the outside edges, all which are wrapped in copper. The resulting composition is held firmly together as the solder has formed a continuous matrix around the edges of all of the glass components.  

A technique of decorating the surface of a glass object using metal discs (usually copper, though bronze is also used) or wheels that are rotated on a spindle. An abrasive mixed with oil is applied to the edge of the wheel. The wheel presses the abrasive against the glass so that it removes the surface by grinding. 

Literally meaning “horn of plenty” in Latin. A decorative motif from the classical Greek and Latin world consisting of an animal horn or basket shaped as a horn overflowing with fruit and foliage.  

An element with a concave section. In lighting design, a cove is a channel, high on a wall, that conceals indirect lighting.  

A crossbar is a metal strap that spans the opening of an electrical junction box and allows for the attachment of a light fixture.  

Crystal is a term most commonly, and most misleadingly, used to describe clear glass of high quality. With the discovery of recipes for producing clear colorless glass, for instance, with the addition of lead or line-potash to the sand base, glassmakers were able to produce articles that resembled cut quartz stone. You can join me in the lonely and unrewarding fight to teach people the difference between true crystal, aka cut stone, or you can join the hoi polloi calling every glittering glass chandelier “crystal”. So informed, the choice is yours. See also “Rock Crystal” and “Cut Leaded Glass".  

A method of decorating glass whereby portions of the glass are removed by ground away “cut” and polished by the use of shaped wheels of stone, metal, felt, or cork that are themselves or that carry abrasive material. The grit or grade of the wheel relates to its stage in the process with rough wheels and abrasives used for creating the gross shapes and finer ones used for fine finishing, and eventually, bright polishing. The abrasives range from carborundum to diamond to cerium oxide. 

A type of enamelware in which the various colors are separated and held by delicate metal partition filaments, or “cloissons”. Used frequently for lamp bases and chandelier bodies. It was also popular for use in desk objects like cigarette boxes, inkwells, letter stands, and ash trays.  

Cut glass is commonly mistaken for crystal, which is mineral quartz. Cut leaded glass is the material of which most “crystal” lighting fixtures are made. There are great, antique, royal¬-palace quality cut glass chandeliers as well as low quality pressed glass chandeliers, but neither of them are actual mineral quartz. High quality cut glass lighting is made of high lead content glass that allows for glass of almost total clarity and for the glass to be cut and polished to a high luster. The term "crystal" has crept into common use to denote high quality cut leaded glass. The re-discovery in England in the 17th Century, that the addition of lead to basic glass recipes produced highly clear, refractive (prismatic) glass that was also soft and easily cut and polished, opened up a flourishing period of artistic and technical experimentation. 

Damascus Steel is a form of steel, famously deployed in blademaking, developed in India and popularized by the blacksmiths and traders around the city of Damascus in Syria. The material appears to have a pronounced grain of alternating bright and dark layers which provide aesthetic appeal when their contrast is enhanced with acid etching. It also significantly won enthusiasts for its mechanical properties: the alternating layers that make it beautiful are bands of unmixed differing carbon and nickel alloys, the high one providing a sharp, hard-wearing edge and the other providing a gummy toughness. Together in this layered combination they allowed a sword blade to be both tough and sharp, otherwise opposing characteristics in metal. Originally the material was formed in a crucible. Many modern examples are forged from intentionally selected bar stocks, joined together under heat and pressure, folded and cut to reveal elaborate patterns, not unlike Murano beads.

The desk lamp was developed to illuminate a work surface. Desk lamps are typically designed with down¬-pointing shades held on height–adjustable and pivotable arms. The bases are typically stout to support the cantilevered weight of the shade. The light is focused on the work or reading surface; the lip of the shade is positioned below eye-level.

A cross-hatched, low-relief surface decoration pattern.

Die Stamping is the process of forming sheets of metal by forcing them into a hardened steel mold, here called the die. The design must be carefully cut into the halves of the dies. All surfaces of the dies are painstakingly filed and polished. The top half and bottom half of the die must take into account the thickness of the metal intended to be stamped. Under great force, of either a flywheel or hydraulics, the dies are forced together, squeezing the sheet metal into its final form. Because of the high cost of preparing such dies, this process is reserved for high volume production.

Light control device that spreads light by scattering it. Glass, fabric, and paper shades act as diffusers.

A period of design in France after the Revolution, from 1793 to 1800. Characterized by Roman motifs and named for the Directory, the new revolutionary French government.

A partial or full hemisphere for diffusing or reflecting light. See also “Bowl” and “Inverted Dome Chandelier”.

A draw plate is hardened piece of metal, usually steel, which has graduated sizes of holes in it that are used for reducing and shaping wire. On the lead side, the holes have a flared opening for ease of entry. In its use, a wire is filed to the state where it can pass through the plate from the lead to the snug-fit side. Once the tapered tip of the wire is through the plate, it can be gripped securely by a pair of specialized pliers and its whole length is pulled through the plate. With a draw plate one can simply reduce a diameter of a round wire or change a round wires profile to a square or hex or other shape.

A broad period in the design of American architecture and decorative arts from the 16th to the early 18th centuries. Grossly speaking, the designs were plain utilitarian forms. The style developed from English Jacobean and William and Mary styles.

A decorative motif from classical antiquity consisting of ovoid or egg shapes alternating with dart¬like points.

Starting in the 1880s with Edison’s electric lamp, lighting fixture designers began taking their cues from the new technology’s requirements and freedoms. Power could be delivered to the bulb by wires threaded through chains, in tubes, tied on to glass arms, etc. The light output from a single bulb was initially dim, as a result, early electric power fixtures display bare bulbs prominently. As bulbs became brighter and new forms of bulbs emerged, lighting designers could vary the aesthetics of the fixture to the program of the space; lighting fixture design became uncoupled from the limitations of candle, oil, or gas fuels. The 1920s mark the start of a design inquiry into the nature of light as a medium where we see the fixture recede to pure function and in some cases, literally disappear into the ceiling or wall. Alongside this development, designers treated the decorative aspect of electric fixtures, themselves emblematic of modernity, with streamlined details, reductive or stripped applied detail, and planar surfaces.

A process of hammering or stamping a material with a shaped die to impress the die design into the surface of the object.

The electroforming process is a peculiar and infrequently used metalforming technique these days, though it was significant 120 years ago in the blossoming of the decorative lighting industry in the United States. Invented in the 1840s, building on discoveries by Faraday, Galvani, and Volta, electroforming, also known as electrotyping, is a plating process wherein the anode, the supply metal which is usually copper in the case of lighting fixture parts, is deposited into a mold, the cathode. When suspended in a conductive bath, usually of potassium cyanide and water, under electric current, metal ions will travel from the anodic terminal and adhere to the cathodic terminal. The cathode in usually a rubber mold. Let’s say you take a rubber impression of a leaf or a bust. This is your mold. You can apply a thin layer of an electrically conductive material, like silver or graphite to the surface of your rubber impression. When you turn on the power, you start a flow of metal ions from the anode into the cathode. With enough time, a stable thickness of builds up in the mold. The benefit of this method is the dizzying fidelity of the electroformed object to the mold. Every eyelash and vein in a leaf that was present in the mold will reproduce in the electroformed object. On the other hand, the process takes days to produce a functional thickness. The very best makers of lighting fixtures at the turn of the 19th to 20th century used this method extensively. The process is also used in jewelry making, with precious metals. An enduring use of the process is the “bronzing” of baby shoes. Though in fact, what’s advertised as bronze is copper. The baby shoe is coated with silver paint and the copper is formed directly over it in a thin ~.025” layer.

Electroplating is the deposition of one metal on another material, usually also metal, in a conductive bath, with the application of electric current.

A period of Neoclassical design during the reign of Napoleon from 1804-1814. Greek, Roman, and Egyptian motifs were widely used. The style appeared in America notably in the work of Duncan Phyfe.

A colored vitreous glaze used to decorate metal and ceramic surfaces. It becomes hard and permanent after firing. Some hard-drying glossy paints are colloquially referred to as enamels.

The English wheel is a sheet metal forming tool capable of making asymmetrical volumetric sheetmetal forms, like teardrop motorcycle gas tanks, airplane wings, or car bumpers. The tool consists of a robust steel or cast iron, almost-closed C-shaped frame that carries, at the upper tip of the C, a small polished & hardened steel wheel and at the opposite, lower tip of the C, another mating wheel. The craftsperson can adjust the height of the lower wheel and, therefore, the gap between the two wheels by means of a screw or jack. The work is pinched between the two wheels and rolled through them. The profile of the wheels and the pressure between them determines the amount of stretching and curving imparted to the metal.

A method of producing a design with shallow cuts made by fine grinding wheels or by hardened steel cutting tools (in glass or metal).

A method of producing a design in glass or metal by painting or printing a resist material, usually wax or varnish, onto the surface to be etched and then submerging the surface in an acid bath. The acid will dissolve the unprotected areas of the surface and reveal a design in relief once the resist material is removed.

Tin-glazed, colorful pottery pioneered in Europe in the 17th century.

An American period 1780-¬1830 influenced by English Adam, Sheraton, Regency, Hepplewhite, French Directoire, and Empire. Common ornaments of this period of decorative arts are eagles, fasces, stars, and urns.

A shallow metal socket, usually cylindrical in shape into which another part mates. For example glass chandelier arms terminate in ferrules at the arm¬-receiver plate and they are capped in ferrules at the candle¬ end to support bobeches. The metal sleeve at the end of a wooden pencil, which holds the eraser, is also a ferrule, as is the metal cuff that holds the bristles of a paintbrush.

A Renaissance and Neoclassical motif in the shape of a suspended loop of drapery or a garland of flowers and fruit.

A finial is any of a variety of usually upward¬-pointing ornaments found, among other places, at the top of a chandelier body or armback or sconce backplate.

Fire gilding is a technique for applying gold to a base metal of usually bronze or silver by painting it with an amalgam of mercury and gold dust. When the amalgam-coated object is placed in a furnace, the mercury vaporizes and in doing so, creates a bond between the residual gold and the base metal. Historically, this extremely toxic technique paid very high wages as it tended to kill its practitioners in short order.

Fire Polishing is a technique of heating an object to remove mold marks and marks left by tools or melting the surface to a very shallow depth to eliminate superficial irregularity, while leaving the majority of the form intact.

A decorative low-relief pattern consisting of overlapping ovals, as in fish scales.

Part of a fixture that accepts a glass globe. The diameter of the fitter must match the size of the neck or opening in the globe. Also known as a shade holder.

A flask is the frame that holds the sand mold for casting. The upper half of the frame is called the cope and the lower is the drag.

A floor lamp is a light fixture that stands on the floor and is tall enough to provide light to a person seated in a chair. There are many varieties, but they all share these common features: A heavy base at floor level, a “standard” or pole that provides the vertical rise, a cluster that holds the sockets.

An adjective describing the origin of a design or pattern in plant forms, specifically a flower in bloom. 

A light fixture whose body is affixed directly to the ceiling without a canopy, chain, or stem.

Decoration formed by making parallel, concave grooves. In classical architecture they are commonly seen on column shafts and run in a vertical direction. Often confused with reeding. See also "Reeding". 

An adjective describing the origin of a design or pattern in plant forms.

A measurement of the amount of light power that hits a particular area. The term “lux” is now often used. See also "Lux".

Forging is the process of working metal between a hammer and an anvil. The hammers can be of any size. The power for the hammer can be human hand, mechanical, or hydraulic. The work can be free and hand manipulated or it can be held in a shaped die. The articles produced by the forging practice are called, simply: forgings.

Free-blown glass is hand-blown glass shaped entirely by hand tools and the motion of the blowpipe, without the use of a mold.

Pattern consisting of a series of parallel, convex lobes or tapered reeds.

A gallery is an ornamental openwork band around the edge of a shelf, table, or step.

Although known in parts of the world with natural gas deposits for over 2000 years, Flammable gas, initially made from processed coal, later supplanted by natural gas, was harnessed in the late 18th century by Scottish engineer William Murdoch to illuminate first his house, then his factory. Burning gas as a source of illumination gained traction in the early 19th century, especially in street lighting, and by 1840 gas lighting began making a pronounced appearance in the domestic interior. The original light source of gas lighting was an open flame at the end of metal tube with a small opening. The danger and heat of the open flame led to the development of glass shades and metal-framed lanterns to surround the flame. The necessity of delivering gas through the body and arms of the lighting fixture also directed the aesthetics of the fixtures. Chains were impractical as a means of hanging chandeliers. Pipes and tubes were required components of all fixtures to route the gas up to the flame.

A gather is the amount of molten glass a glassworker pulls out of the furnace on the end of their blowpipe.

A period of design that takes its name from the in English furniture from 1714 to 1795. Among the best known designers were Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Chippendale, and the Adam Brothers.

A mixture of plaster and glue for molding durable, quick, and cheap sculptural details.

Ornamental coating of gold leaf, electrolytically deposited gold, or gold dust. Also known as gilt.

Elaborate table candelabra or heavily carved and often gilded wall sconces with mirrored backplates.

Glass is an amorphous solid, meaning it has no regular crystalline structure. Glass is most commonly composed of silica (sand) heated to 1,400-1,600°C with a flux, like potash. More scientifically speaking, glass is a structure, meaning that there are many compositions that act like we expect glass to act. There are quartz based glasses, borosilicate based glass, metallic, and even polymer glasses. In the world of decorative arts, different grades and types of silica, fluxes, and colorants result in different qualities and characteristics of glass. One of the most notable compositions is the use of flint as a base and lead as a decolorant to produce “crystal” glass. Metal oxides have been used to color glass for hundreds of year, with copper, gold, lithium, cobalt, uranium, and silver among the principal ones.

Small bubbles and air pockets trapped within glass.

A glass shade that contains a light source.

A chemical element (symbol Au). Gold is an extremely malleable bright yellow metal. It is easy to work at room temperature. It can be pulled into thread for embroidery or pounded out into sheets so thin that they are translucent. As well as having a brilliant yellow sheen, gold is very non¬reactive so has been used as a decorative and protective coating for other metals via plating, gilding, and leafing. 

A period of architecture and decorative arts beginning in the 12th century and ending in the 16th century across Europe. Characteristics include the pointed arch or lancet, the trefoil, quatrefoil, and other lobed patterns, and repetitive geometric tracery.

A style of decoration incorporating fantastical elements such as shell-encrusted caves and sea creatures, stalactites, and fountains. See also "Grotto Ornament". 

A style of decoration incorporating fantastical elements such as shell encrusted caves and sea creatures, stalactites, and fountains. See also "Grotesques".  

The mark or marks designating that a piece of work has received an official approval of quality. Historically, hallmarks referred an object back to a specific guild hall, but now can mean any mark that attributes an object to its maker.

Glass that has a rippled, pitted, or peened aspect.

A ball-and-socket joint coupling between a canopy and a stem that allows a bit of play between a pitched or uneven ceiling and a lighting fixture so that the fixture will “hang straight”.

A metal U-shaped bracket that spans a light bulb and is used to attach a shade to a lamp.

George Heppelwhite (1727¬1786) was an English designer in the 18th century who frequently collaborated with the Adam Brothers. He wrote "The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide."

A column in the form of a male figure and derived from Greek architecture. See also "Caryatid" and "Telamon".

A type of glass made by the Holophane company (1898 – present) characterized by clear, non-tint color and a sharply ribbed surface. The ribbing and shape of the glass are directly related to the diffusion pattern and intensity of light produced by the fixture.

Horn refers to the keratin material of a sheep, goat, deer, elk, moose, or related species’ boney cranial protuberances. Horn, also known as antler, can be used in its natural state or can be cut and polished into many other forms such as knife handles, inlays in wood or metal, or when cut into fine translucent sheets, used as glazing for lanterns.

A live flame lantern design whereby some of the hot 'exhaust' air was recirculated down the side tubes and mixed with fresh air and fed to the burner. This was an improvement over the non-circulating, “dead-flame” configuration.

A lamp having a glass housing to protect its candle from the wind and originating in 19th-century oil and candlestick lamps for marine use.

A shallow, often plainly geometric carving.

Form of decoration that involves cutting small pieces of ivory, precious metals, mother-of-pearl, or wood, which are then fitted into carved-out recesses of the same shape on a contrasting base material to create a picture or geometric design.

Incised or sunken decoration.

Elaborate pictorial marquetry or inlaid paneling in wood, used in Renaissance Italy and also 16th¬century Germany.

A ceiling hung fixture type consisting of a glass or stone dish that is open at the top and usually suspended by a series of rods or chains, providing semi¬indirect light. Inverted Dome Chandeliers sometimes incorporate projecting, candle¬bearing arms arrayed around the rim of the dish.

A chemical element (symbol Fe). Iron is a magnetic metal, silvery gray in color when fresh but oxidizes rapidly to a deep brownish red. Very soft when absolutely pure, iron gains in strength and hardness when it is alloyed with other elements, notably carbon, chromium, and nickel. Carbon and iron combine to form steel. The main alloys of iron used in the decorative arts are cast iron, a very strong, although brittle, alloy that is easily melted and poured and wrought iron, which is very ductile and easily hot worked.

See "Junction Box"

A period in English design from 1603 to 1688. Characteristics include jeweled strapwork, interlaced guilloches and banding, and checker patterns. Also known as late Tudor.

A European technique imitating Japanese lacquerwork, where furniture and metalwork are detailed with colored shellac in raised patterns, then painted primarily with golds, blacks, dark greens, and reds.

The name given by Josiah Wedgwood to the matte, white clay that can be colored and decorated. Often these objects were finished in blue grounds and resembled cameo plaques.

Jewelers’ rouge is a very fine polishing compound used for the final stage of a mirror polished finish. The polisher “charges” their rotating flannel wheel with the bar of jeweler’s rouge and then presses their metalwork into it, removing fine imperfections and haze and imparting a bright shine.

a protective enclosure for connecting and protecting electrical wires, keeping connections secure, preventing hazards, and allowing access for future work, coming in metal or plastic, with knockouts for entry, and essential for safety and code compliance in electrical installations. They are used in residential, commercial, and industrial settings for everything from light fixtures to solar panels, housing wire splices, switches, and outlets.

A knop is a squashed sphere. In profile, it may look like an ellipse, an oval, or a rounded rectangle. In plan, it looks like a circle. Usually, you find knops in stems or balustrade spindles. Knops can be plain, ornamented with flutes that are twisted or straight, or gadrooned. Once, I was finishing some homework on the morning train into NYC, describing a batch of new antiques. My friend, sitting next to me, who, let’s say, had little experience in the world of antiques and decorative arts, looked over at the work on my lap and saw me writing the words “gadrooned knop”. He burst out laughing and asked what in God’s green earth does that ridiculous couplet mean. I explained. He countered that it sounded like a good name for a hair metal band. That Christmas, he gave me a present of a rock pin with Gadrooned Knop written out with a heavy larding of umlauts, Øs and ⊕s. Rock on 🤘

Lacquer is a now-generic term for a clear coating that protects metal fixtures from rusting or tarnishing.

Lamp is the modern term for a light source, now that LED light sources are not confined to bulbs. When electric lighting was first developed into a domestic utility, it was in terms of incandescent lamps that were made of glass bulbs holding a filament suspended in a special gas atmosphere. That form was so long-lived and universal that the specific became the general in our usage. “Lamp” is fighting an uphill battle in acceptance.

Equipping a fixture with a lamp or changing the bulb.

A diffuser for directing, reducing, or changing the quality of light from a lamp. Most commonly a cylinder or tapered drum made of paper or fabric.

A narrow pointed arch.

Unlike chandeliers which are most often oriented radially, lanterns are oriented vertically. Lanterns are typically designed with an outer metal frames holding glass panels or an infill such as mesh, beaded prisms, or fabric. Lanterns may occasionally have projecting arms.

Lapping is the process of precisely polishing flat areas of work by holding them against a hard rotating felt disc. The disc is known as a lap. Metal, glass, stones, and other materials can be polished in a lap.

A lathe is a machine tool where the work is held such that it rotates, while a cutting tool is advanced into it axially and radially. The work of running a lathe and the objects produced on a lathe are both called “turnings”. Lathes can be made for turning almost any material: metal, wood, ivory, stone and many more. Lathes are usually set up horizontally. The principle features of a lathe are the headstock, to the craftsman’s left, where the work is held, the tailstock where the work may be additionally supported on a pointed rotating center, the bed: a heavy, stiff, and precise set of rails which connect the head stock and the tailstock, and the toolrest or tool carriage, where the cutting tool is supported.

An openwork criss¬cross pattern.

Not a type of true crystal, “lead crystal” is a type of high-quality glass with a high lead content that imparts high clarity and softness for ease of cutting and polishing.

Small pieces of glass joined at the edges with metal, traditionally with lead, although zinc and copper are also common. The term does not refer to the presence of lead in the composition of the glass itself.

A lehr is a specialized furnace for cooling and annealing glass. Blown, cast, and slumped glass needs to be carefully and slowly cooled to release stresses and make it resilient.  

A decorative pattern composed of alternating tapered leaves and points.

A glass or stone, usually alabaster, dish that contains a light source such as bulbs, candles, an oil¬burner, etc.  

A library lamp is typically designed with a pair of down-pointing shades extended on horizontal arms from a central stem or body. The shades are traditionally made of green-over-white cased glass. The light is focused on the work or reading surface; the lip of the shade is below eye level.

Form of carving which imitated vertical folds of drapery. Probably Flemish in origin, it was widely used in the 15th and 16th centuries to decorate furniture and wall paneling.

A loop is an open fastener allowing connection of a chandelier or pendant to a suspension chain. Commonly in the form of a circular ring, a trefoil, a diamond, or a double “C” scroll. A loop can also be a decorative detail used as a finial.

Lost wax casting is a method of casting metal or glass where the pattern is made of wax, which is then embedded in a temperature-resistant material (plaster, ceramic, or other). The pattern and its covering, called the investment, are heated until the wax runs out or is vaporized from the investment, leaving a hollow impression of its form. This feature, where the wax pattern is lost, is the genesis of the name of this technique. Into this hollow impression, the casting material is poured. When cooled, the investment is broken away, revealing the new casting. Among the benefits of this method are a high fidelity of detail in the casting to the pattern, as the investment material is very fine-grained, and the ability to render complex undercut geometries without resorting to multipart molds and core patterns. The main disadvantage of the method is that the pattern is destroyed with each casting.

A style of architecture, art, and decoration coinciding with the rule of Louis XIV in France between 1643 and 1715. Influenced by the Baroque style during the earlier years, the style later developed into the Regence style. Hallmarks of the earlier period are large, masculine, and symmetrical while the later period was characterized by its use of bold curves and exuberant foliate details. Ornamentation was often done with sunbursts, rocks, shells, and flowers.

A style of architecture, art, and decoration coinciding with the reign of Louis XV in France and lasting from approximately 1715 to 1774. Characteristics include asymmetrical curvilinear details, naturalistic renderings of flora and fauna, and deep sculptural relief. Common motifs are shells, acanthus leaves, and undulating lines with S¬-curves and opposing C-¬scrolls.

A style of architecture, art, and decoration coinciding with the reign of Louis XVI in France and lasting from approximately 1774 to 1793. Characteristics include slender proportions, symmetrical straight-lined details, and Neoclassical balance. Common motifs are rectangular lines, Greek and Pompeian architectural ornamentation, and shallow-relief surfaces.

A fin or slat that allows a controlled and directed passage of light while often obscuring the actual source point of the light.

A measure of the total power of visible light emitting from a light source.

A measure of how efficiently a light source converts power to visible light as much of the energy is transformed into types of radiation that are not visible, such as heat or infrared.

A measurement of visible light power in a particular area. For example, a light source emitting 1000 lumens on a ceiling may provide only 100 lux to a tabletop beneath it. See also “Footcandle”.

A representation of the stringed musical instrument from classical antiquity that is wide at the bottom and with opposing “S” scrolls narrowing to the top, often infilled with representations of the strings of the harp.

Glass shaped by mechanically forcing air into molten glass so that it takes the shape of a mold, in an automated, assembly line, environment.

Italian and Spanish pottery finished with a colorful tin and/or lead¬-based glazes. Originally an Islamic Mideastern technique. The name derives from the Spanish island of Majorca.

A pattern created with contrasting materials in a veneered surface, flush to that surface. Differently colored and grained woods are most common, but thin layers of tortoiseshell, ivory, mother-of-pearl, and metals are also used.

A marver is a flat surface, usually of cast iron or steel, on which molten glass is shaped.

A circular or oval frame having within it an ornamental motif.

Mission style is an American style of decoration and architecture dating from the early 1900s, that takes its name from the Catholic missions in California, characterized by adobe walls, exposed wooden beams and casings, rounded-tile roofs, and deep porches and projecting cornices. Furniture was made mainly from oak and metalwork of copper and iron, all marked by plain decoration and durability. The mission style in the 20th Century was allied with the Arts and Crafts movement.

A mold is a hollow form into which metal or glass is cast or blown.

Seam lines that correspond to the section lines in a mold that remain on the body of a blown-glass item after it is removed from a mold.

Glass that is blown into, and takes its exterior form of, the interior contours of a mold. The interior contours of mold-blown glass are not directly impressed by the mold.

A broad term for any of a variety of applied ornaments (e.g. rosette, ribbon and bow, urn and swag, foliage) that are usually of cast metal but also of other materials such as pottery or glass. On the exterior of the lens of an inverted dome chandelier, mounts are used for both decorative effect as well as functional support to connect the lens to the stems or chains.

A ceiling mounted lighting fixture consisting of a central body with projecting arms.

A style of decoration incorporating elements such as dragons, griffins, sphinxes, hobbits, wizards, swords, misty mountains, gnomes, trolls, beautiful maidens, valiant princes, evil kings, good witches, and assorted hocus-pocus. 

A design, style, or element of a fixture that refers to the sea, aquatic life, boating, etc. Common details include anchors, shells, waves, ships, fish, octopuses, and dolphins.

A broad term that describes a style of decoration drawing on the forms and vocabulary of the ancient Greek and Roman world.

A recessed, coved, space in the backplate of a sconce or an architectural element intended to hold a statue or ornament.

A chemical element (symbol Ni). Nickel is a silvery-¬white metal with high hardness. It is commonly used as a coating over other metals on account of its high resistance to corrosion, its ability to take a bright mirror finish, and its hardness.

The flaring or tapering end of an arm that is directly under a bobeche.

An architectural element having a convex cove joined to a concave nose that produces an “S” profile.

Oil or “fluid¬-fuel” lighting has its origins in prehistory. There are examples of oil lamps from some of the earliest human civilizations. The basic form of the oil lamp was, for thousands of years, a shell or stone dish of molten animal fat or vegetable oil with some vegetable wick such as papyrus, rush, or linen dipped in the oil reservoir. As in a candle, the heat of the flame draws the fuel up the wick through capillary action, where it is burned. Oil lamps went through many improvements over the centuries, but leapt forward with Aime Argand’s invention of the circular tube wick that drafted air from underneath, both around and through the wick tube. The additional oxygen at the flame produced an intense bright light.

Onyx is a type of quartz, usually with strong banding, that can be cut into this sheets, milled, or turned on a lathe for use a lens in lighting fixtures. Common colors are green/rust and honey/white.

A type of glass used in lighting fixture shade production that has a cloudy blue or grayish opal translucence and a slight iridescence. Opaline glass was widely used in the production of cast glass domes that were meant to imitate carved alabaster.

Literally “gold-like,” a French term for a type of cast bronze ornament that is finished by chasing and surfaced with gold. Also known as gilt-bronze or bronze d’ore. The term is often used to refer to bronze furniture mounts that have been enhanced by gilding.

Fan-¬shaped pattern derived from the shape of a palm tree leaf.

Round or oval medallion motif frequently incorporating radiating fluting, leaves, or flower petals in its design. Paterae can be carved in relief or fully sculpted in the round, painted, inlaid, or made with many other techniques. Paterae are frequently found on Neoclassical furniture and architectural woodwork.

Term used to describe a darkened, worn appearance formed on the surface of objects due to wear, age, and exposure. Patinas vary with the materials, finishing process, and environment of an object. With copper¬alloy metals such as bronze, the colors of patinated surfaces usually range from light brown to black to green. With iron alloys, the colors of patinated surfaces usually range from bright orange to blue to black. With silver and nickel, the colors of patinated surfaces usually range from amber to light brown to black.

A tall, narrow base, usually treated with moldings at the top and bottom, that supports a statue, lamp, vase, or any object.

Broad triangular or curved space above a portico, doorway, window, or cabinet.

A pendalogue is a large cut glass or crystal prism in a semi teardrop or pear shape.

A light fixture that hangs from the ceiling with a single or several closely coupled chains or stems has a main body element that is compact and does not have any projecting light sources, such as a chandelier arm.

A downward-hanging decorative element, such as a tassel, bell, loop, or spear. It differs from a finial, which typically points up.

Alloy of tin and lead which has a dull gray appearance and is used for the making of tableware and ornaments. Originally intended as a substitute for silver, its value diminished in the 17th century with the advent of chinaware for everyday use.

Pickling is a process where a craftsperson removes the oxides, heat scarring, and fluxes from their soldering work by submerging the work in an acid solution: a “pickle”. The pickle can be many types of acid: citric, acetic, sulphuric, muriatic, etc. The acidic bath dissolves the unwanted byproducts and leaves a clean surface. Yes, the term pickling, as in cucumbers, is directly related to pickling for metalworkers.

The picture light was developed to illuminate wall-hung works of art. Picture lights are typically designed with a long, horizontal, metal shade having a focusable opening directed down and back towards the picture. The shade is held on a long arm, projecting off the backplate and the wall.

A pier mount light is a type of exterior light fixture that mounts to the top of a pier or post.

A pilaster is a section of a column that is not freestanding i.e. engaged to a wall or doorframe. Often referred to as a half¬-column, though a pilaster may provide no structural support.

Planishing is a hammering technique by sheet metal workers to smooth out wrinkled or otherwise distorted metal after grosser metal shaping operations. For instance, after sinking a rough bowl shape by hammering the metal into a wood form, one would use the lightweight and polished face of a planishing hammer to work the creases and ripples out over a round stake. 

A bright, white powder of calcinated gypsum that when mixed with water can be easily cast or molded.

Literally, many¬-colored.

Polishing is the final stage of the mechanical refinement of a surface. Polishing encompasses a wide range of processes with handheld, mechanical, automated, and chemical branches and other roads and detours. In general, the polisher is making the surface of the object smoother. What we recognize as a mirror reflective surface is one where the roughness is so low that light hitting it bounces back to our eyes in a regular pattern. A rough satin finish will scatter light and appear matte. Back in the polishing shop, the craftsperson is using progressively finer grits of sandpaper until the surface is ready for wheel polishing. Then, the prepared surface is held against a rapidly rotating wheel made of felt or tightly stitched cotton flannel called a buff, which has been impregnated with a fine abrasive in a wax carrier. Similar to sanding up through finer and finer grits, the work on polishing wheels progresses from fine to ultra-fine grits. The final pass is usually made with a soft, unstitched wheel charged with a compound known as jeweler’s rouge, which contains fine iron oxide particles.

A pontil is a solid iron rod that a glassworker uses to hold the work when transferred off the blowpipe. The mark where the work is finally cracked off the pontil is called simply the pontil mark. If you imagine an apple or a pumpkin having its stem cut close to the fruit, you’ll have an OK idea of how this feature may appear.

A hard, translucent, white ceramic, originally made in China and later reproduced in Europe by Meissen in the 18th century. True porcelain is made of kaolin or China clay.

A dark brick¬-red or purple stone with flecks of whitish aggregate. It was prized in the ancient world and was mined and carved for royal furniture and fixtures since pharaonic Egypt and often used during the reign of Louis XIV for the bases of candelabrum.

Glassware formed by pressing a quantity of molten glass between two halves of a mold. The resulting piece, referred to as "mold-pressed", may have an interior form independent of the exterior, in contrast to mold-blown glass, whose interior corresponds to the outer form.

A prunt is a button glass applied to a glass vessel for decorative or functional purposes, such as grip. Prunts can be pinched, pressed with designs, or left as simple blobs.

A wide variety of translucent, faceted, glass or rock crystal elements of a lighting fixture. Commonly called a “crystal.”

Regarding wall-mounted light fixtures, projection is the measurement of the distance between the wall and the furthest element from the wall.

Latin for “four leaves”. In the decorative arts, it is any of a wide variety of four-lobed forms of naturalistic foliage or abstract geometry.

Quartz is a natural mineral consisting of silicone dioxide, appearing in many tones from fully water clear to smoke to purple, where it’s known as amethyst.

A period in architecture and decorative arts design from 1702¬-1714, characterized by late Baroque symmetry, turned decoration, ball and claw feet, along with plainer surfaces than preceding periods.

Raising is a sheet metal forming process where the sheet is hammered over specialized anvils, called stakes, to stretch, compress, curve, or otherwise transform it. Raising is principally used to make vessels.

A decorative motif of parallel convex moldings that is similar to fluting, which has concave parallel moldings. See also "Fluting".

A period of architecture and design in France between the Louis XIV style and the Rococo style and named for the time from 1715¬-1728 when Philippe, Duke of Orleans, ruled as regent. Characteristics include the cabriole leg and ornamentation based in observation of nature rather than in classical mythology. Asymmetrical arms with lifelike castings of foliage adorn chandeliers and candelabra arms.

A period of architecture and design in England of strict Neoclassicism between 1810¬-1820, influenced by the French Empire, especially Napoleon’s expeditions to Egypt. The term English Regency in the decorative arts is taken broadly to mean late 18th– to early 19th¬ century Neoclassicism.

The Renaissance was a period of thought and art characterized by a revival of interest in Greek and Roman classical design that began in Italy during the 14th century and spread to France, Germany, and England up to the 17th century. Early designs are planar and simple and emphasized the use of classical devices such as round arches, rustication, pediments, paterae, acanthus, swags, and cornucopia. Later stages of the Renaissance grew increasingly elaborate, marked by richer ornamentation, deeper relief carving, and a more sculptural approach to surface decoration. Motifs such as grotesques, strapwork, cartouches, and scrolls appeared alongside mythological figures, heraldic emblems, and naturalistic representations of plants and animals. Furniture, metalwork, and textiles began to display more three-dimensionality, color, and intricate patterning, reflecting the period’s embrace of humanism, technical innovation, and the grandeur of classical antiquity reinterpreted for princely courts and civic buildings.

Ornamental relief work on sheet metal where the design is pushed out by hammering from the reverse side in a technique similar to embossing. Truly, when executing this type of work, the artisan is frequently switching from side to side of the metal, coaxing it to swell in one direction and tapping back in the other. To support the metal and control the force and direction of the hammer and chisel work, the artisan often backs the metal with leather, sand, or pitch. The work on the front surface of the object is formally called chasing, though few observe the distinction in terms.

Glass that is painted on the side opposite the viewer produces a vivid effect due to the translucence of the glass. Any number of paints can be used for this process as can metal foils. See also “Verre Eglomise”.

A ring is a circular metal or wood frame of any profile used to hold an array of candelabra arms or the lens of an inverted dome chandelier. Also referred to as a hoop or rim.

A chandelier whose defining characteristic is a circular band to which candles, lanterns, or shades attach. Also called a "hoop chandelier" or a "wagon wheel chandelier".

Quartz crystal that is cut and polished for use in dressing the frames of chandeliers and candelabra. Real crystal can only be cut or carved and cannot be blown or otherwise hot worked. Quartz is found in amethyst color, brown, smoke, clean, and other natural colors.

A late 18th century Baroque period in architecture and design characterized by asymmetrical lines and close observation and reproduction of foliate and nautical details and intricate curves, shell and scroll motifs. The surfaces were often finished in pastel colors highlit by gilding. The name Rococo derives from the French word rocaille, meaning shell, and referring to the exuberant shell and pebble-encrusted decoration of fountains, grottoes, and other fantastical spaces.

A rolling mill is a machine where an ingot of metal is fed through two hardened steel rotating cylinders, held in a robust frame. The gap between the cylinders is adjustable and as the metal is fed through it, it is reduced in thickness. This basic type of machine is used in steel mills for producing huge plates suitable for aircraft carriers as well as in small jewelry and silversmiths’ shops to produce fine articles. The cylinders can be engraved with decorations, which will be imparted to the metal. If you watched Looney Tunes as a kid, you can visualize this as the kind of old-time laundry wringer that flattened out many a cartoon character to every child’s delight. 

A rose engine or rose lathe is a machine where a rotating cutting tool is engaged to the workpiece in a pattern driven by means of a follower and a cam. The cams, called roses, have lobes that determine the in and out moves of the cutting tool. The designs are made of shallow cuts, and the patterns produced look quite like those made by a Spirograph. The materials for such work can be wood, metal, ivory, or other fine-grained materials. Rose engine work was commonly used for box lids and the handles of presentation tools.

A rosette is an ornament, often circular, that represents a stylized flower. A rosette can be permanently affixed part of a larger design, or it can be detachable. In wall sconces, rosettes commonly have a threaded back end and are used to attach the fixture to the wall. On an inverted dome chandelier, they are seen on the top outside lip of the lens for both decorative effect as well as functional support. A threaded post would connect through the lens to a loop and the suspension chains/rods.  

In the electrical trade, the rough-in is the process of wiring a building and installing the back boxes of electrical devices before the finish work of installing the fixtures is started.

A rush light is a very primitive form of lighting device, halfway between a candle and an oil lamp. It consists of the pith of the rush plant, a tall reed growing in shallow water or marshy areas, that is dipped in fat, grease, or wax. The rush is then held in a metal frame and lit. The fat and the pith are burnt together, providing light for a short while.

Sand Casting is a casting method where the mold is made of sand. In the simplest configuration where the appearance of the backside of the casting is unimportant to its use, a pattern is pressed into the sand and removed to reveal a mirrored depression. The molten metal or glass is poured into this depression and removed when cooled. In castings where all surfaces of the part are considered, the sand is contained in a specialized box, called a flask, the bottom half of which is known as the drag, and the top of which is known as the cope. The pattern is pressed approximately halfway into the drag, and the sand is leveled out perfectly around it. The sand surface is then coated with a non-sticking, “parting” material such as talc. The cope is placed over the drag and the half-projecting pattern. The cope and drag are then separated, and the pattern is removed. Channels called runners and gates are cut into the sand to allow the metal to reach the pattern. Finally, the cope and drag are carefully reassembled and clamped together. Molten metal is poured into the gates. After the metal cools, the flask is disassembled, and the casting is freed from the sand.

A sconce is any of a wide variety of styles and configurations of wall¬-mounted lighting fixtures. The defining “sconcy” element of a light fixture is that it is fixed to the wall as opposed to being ceiling-¬hung or table or floor mounted. Some of the most common types of sconces are: 1. Candle uplight fixtures, where the basic form is determined by the necessity of burning a candle: A candle with a live flame must be held away from flammable materials and not unduly transfer heat back to critical elements of the fixture. These typically have either a spike on which a candle is fixed at the end of an arm or a cup into which a candle is inserted and often have a broad pan beneath to catch the dripping wax called a bobeche or waxpan. Both gas and electric powered fixtures have adopted this vocabulary, substituting ceramic or paperboard sleeves to simulate candles. 2. Glass¬-shaded gas sconces, where the point of illumination is obscured by a glass shade. 3. Uplights or wall-washers, where the point of illumination is hidden by the opaque body of the fixture, which serves to direct the light along the wall and ceiling. These commonly take the form of shells, half-cones, half domes, or half bells.

A screw collar loop is a two-part form of lighting fixture hardware consisting of a loop that connects to the primary suspension chain and a back end with both internal and external threading. The internal threading connects to a pipe nipple and from there to the building structure. The external threading connects to a knurled collar, which supports the canopy. Unthreading the collar away from the ceiling allows the installer to temporarily drop the canopy in order to reveal the wiring and connect the fixture.

A decorative covering or diffuser for any light source of almost limitless shapes and materials.

An adjustable piece of lighting fixture hardware that allows the shade on a table or floor lamp to be moved up and down by loosening and tightening a thumb screw, raising or lowering the riser stem.

A silhouette is a shadowed contour consisting of an outline of somebody or something filled in with black or a dark color on a light background, especially when done as a likeness or work of art.

Silver is a chemical element (symbol Ag). A soft, white metal that is highly workable for decorative and industrial uses through casting, rolling into sheets, spinning, as well as hand-working such as repousse, wire¬work, and raising. Silver can be polished to a mirror-level reflective surface. Solid or sterling silver objects are rare to find in the world of lighting fixtures outside the category of candelabrum. Silver is, however, a frequent final finish (via electroplating) for fixtures made of brass, bronze, or copper.

Sinking is the process of forming flat sheet metal into a volumetric shape. The most basic type of sinking could be the creation of a bowl. The basic tools are hammers and a dished form, often a tree-stump with a dished depression. The metal must be of a soft temper. One hammers the metal into the form, stretching it with each blow until it roughly matches the profile of the depression. The process could end there or further refinement through raising and chasing may be used to create elaborate vessel, masks, or many other forms.

In lighting fixture design, a skirt is a pendant border that usually drops from a section of a chandelier or sconce body or from a waxpan. Many examples have scalloped lower edges, pierced decorations, or crenelation. See also “Apron".

Slumping is a name for glass bending. Flat sheet glass is set over a form in a kiln. When the temperature reaches a point where the glass becomes soft, it drapes or slumps itself over or into the form.

A slip ring is a collar that supports a ceiling canopy by means of a perpendicular set¬screw that bears against the fixture stem. Adjusting the set ¬screw allows the installer to temporarily lower the canopy along the section of pipe in order to reveal the wiring and connect the fixture.

A snarling iron is a specialized type of metal forming stake usually having a long curved neck with a polished ball or pointed end for shaping the insides of deep vessels. In practice, the back end of the stake is hit, and the vibration is transferred to the working end, which drives the metal outward from the otherwise inaccessible interior of the work. I’ve read that the word comes from German, where snarren means to rattle. 

Soldering is the process of joining two metals with a different molten metal, as opposed to welding, where the metals being joined are melted together. Soldering is roughly divided into soft soldering and hard soldering. Soft soldering goes by many names, among them are: sweat soldering, tin soldering, and lead soldering. Soft soldering is defined by a 450° C upper limit temperature of its operation. The soft solders are most commonly alloys of lead, tin, and antimony. Soft soldering is used extensively in the production of sheet metal work and stained glass. Hard soldering, also called silver soldering and brazing, produces a much stronger joint than soft soldering. The alloys used are principally silver and brass. In all soldering techniques, the metals to be joined must be perfectly clean and treated with a flux that prevents the formation of oxides and promotes the flow of the solder alloy over the target surface. The base metals are brought up to the soldering temperature, and the solder metal is added to the joint until it becomes molten and flows over and bonds to the intended surfaces. The bond is a micro alloy of the solder and base metal, along their old boundary layers.

Spelter is a soft, low-melting-point alloy of zinc and lead that was frequently used in mass market lighting from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Spelter is used for decorative castings. Its production is simple on account of its low melting temperature. It is not a durable alloy, and it finishes and wears poorly. 

Metal spinning produces axially symmetrical, hollow, rounded shapes. To form a spinning, a tool known as a chuck or mandrel is mounted on the drive component (the one that spins) of a lathe. This chuck can be made of a hard material, such as steel or wood, and is the positive shape of the inside of the desired component. A precut sheet metal disc is clamped onto the opposite end of the tool. The lathe is then turned on and the tool and metal sheet spin rapidly. Force is then applied to the metal disc using various levered tools, so that the workpiece flows over and envelopes the chuck. When complete, the sheet metal disc will have taken the exact form of the chuck over which it was forced. For shapes that curve back in on both sides (“re-entrant” shapes), a collapsible or multi-piece chuck must be used so that the chuck is not captured and can be removed after spinning. Fun fact or possibly metalworker’s myth: extremely complicated pieces were formed over a shaped piece of ice that melts away after spinning.

A family of steel alloys principally made of iron, with significant amounts of nickel and chromium plus other trace elements, that exhibit great strength and corrosion resistance. When polished, stainless steel attains a bright silver finish.

Stamping is a forming process where sheets of metal are pressed between dies under great pressure. The metal is stretched and compressed such that it takes the form of the die exactly.

A stake is a type of specialized anvil for forming sheet metal. They are used by trades as diverse as jewelry, silversmithing, and autobody repair. There are many, many different shapes, sizes, and uses of stakes. Many have a T-shape with a tapered tail that is intended to be held in the hole of an anvil or driven into a heavy wood base. Their forming ends can be V-grooved, rounded like balls, drawn out in tapers, and made in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Some of the most complex ones, called delightfully, snarling irons, have long curved necks with polished balls or points for forming the insides of deep vessels.

Stained glass generally refers to panels of colored glass assembled from small individual pieces of glass held together in a metal framework. The glass may be truly stained, such as with a silver oxide, or it may be otherwise colored or painted. The form of stained-glass wares can range from a table lamp shade to a monumental cathedral window.

Steel is a family of iron and carbon alloys that are magnetic and very strong. Steel is used for structural elements, for tools, and for other situations that require strength and wear resistance. In the hands of a skilled blacksmith steel can also take decorative forms.

A stem is a rod or pipe that connects the body of a hanging fixture to the ceiling. Stems can be of any thickness and profile or decorative detail (e.g. round, square, reeded, twisted, embossed). The stem can be any of the vertical types of the chandelier bodies from which the arms radiate.

Sterling is a term used in connection with silverware that indicates it is an alloy 92.5 percent pure silver and 7.5% copper.

Strapwork is a pattern of interlaced bands, resembling braiding or overlapping meanders.

A student lamp is a type of desk lamp of metal, usually brass, that has a tubular shaft and one or two horizontally-projecting arms with shades of opaque glass that are typically dark green or white.

A swag is a horizontal U-shaped ornament often in the form of a garland of flowers, fruit, or beads, tied with ribbons and suspended from two points. Swags often drape between a series of arms around a chandelier. Swags may be made of crystal or other beads or cast entirely in metal. The term swag comes to us down a long path of meanings, starting in Scandinavia meaning bag, later in English meaning illicitly acquired goods, later reconnecting to the earlier meaning of bag, it came to mean a bag for carrying stolen goods. Swagger, which originally meant to lurch or sag, then came to mean carrying oneself with high confidence. The collision of those senses: a sagging or bagged form, which carries something of value, that presents a pompous air, delivers this now-deracinated decorative flourish.

A swing-arm sconce is a type of wall light with a horizontal pivot in the arm or arms. Swing arm sconces can have one or many pivots and the number of pivots. These fixtures are often deployed in reading nooks, at bedsides, over desks, and in other areas intended for reading.

Tapping is the process of adding screw threads to the inside of hole. A hardened steel or carbide tool called a tap cuts a regular helix of grooves into the side of the hole, corresponding to the required thread pitch. See also “threading”.

CA tassel is a common variety of decorative pendants, borrowed from drapery fittings, in the form of a knot with twisted cords or threads flaring out beneath it.

A telamon is a male caryatid. See also "Caryatid" and "Hermes".

Tempering is a process for imparting a balance of two often opposing properties: toughness (think resilience and gumminess) and hardness (think resistance to scratching and ability to keep a sharp edge), through controlled heating and cooling, often in a controlled atmosphere or vacuum.

Terracotta is a hard-¬baked pottery used in the decorative arts and as a building material that is usually of a bare red¬-brown clay, but may also be colored with paint or fired with glaze.

Threading is the process of adding screw threads to the outside of a cylindrical feature. A hardened steel or carbide tool called a die cuts a regular helix of grooves into the periphery of the cylindrical form, corresponding to the required thread pitch. See also “tapping”.

Tin is a chemical element (symbol Sn). Tin is a silvery¬-gray, soft metal, highly corrosion resistant and therefore was used to coat other metals such as iron and copper to prevent their oxidation. In its pure bar form or when a thick layer of tin is present on a metal plate, you can hear the crystalline structure slipping when the material is bent. This sound is called “tin cry”.

The term tole, today, refers to a fixture made of painted metal. The metal could be any type. The painting can be applied cold or fired on, as with enamels. Originally, the word tole, which is simply the French word for tin, referred specifically to tin-plated wares.

A torchiere is a type of floor lamp equipped with a decorative glass or metal reflector bowl at the top of its column, which is designed to throw light upward. The root of this form comes to us from practical considerations in lighting large spaces with the use of open flame, whether wicks in oil, rushlights, or torches.

Trefoil is Latin for “three leaves”. In the decorative arts, it is any of a wide variety of three-lobed form of naturalistic foliage or abstract geometry.

A triglyph is a decorative device derived from ancient Greek architecture and consisting of the projecting block in the frieze of the entablature (alternating with the recessed metope) that has a series of vertical grooves cut into its surface.

The Tudor period or style is a phase of English architecture and design during the reign of the House of Tudor from 1485 to 1603. Essentially Gothic in character, the style tends to be heavy, massive, and richly carved with ornamentation such as strapwork, half timbering, inlay, and caryatids. 

Turning is the process of making objects in a lathe. A piece of metal, wood, ivory, or other material is held in the lathe, which spins the material and allows the craftsperson to change its shape by removing material with a chisel or other cutting tool. Items such as the wood spindles on your stair railing, the pawns in your chessboard, and the brass candle cup on your sconce are all likely made in a lathe and therefore: turnings. Think of a countertop apple peeler, and you’ll get the essential idea.

A pattern applied to pottery before the final glazing is applied.

A form of sconce or chandelier that directs light upwards often by way of an opaque shade or diffuser.

In contradiction to its name, upsetting is a delightful metal forming technique. Upsetting refers to the thickening of a metal bar by squashing it along its long axis. For instance, if a furniture designer wants the metal legs of a table or those on a pair of andirons to flare out to a wide foot, the smith will heat the bar of metal up to its ductility point and then hammer the end into itself or pound the end onto the face of an anvil. The metal bulges and flares under the compressive force of the blows. This process is also used in the joining of metals with rivets: the rivet stock is pressed into the aligned holes of the metals to be joined, and the rivet’s ends are then hammered, mushrooming the heads and creating a permanent lock.

Valence lighting is characterized by a fixture installed behind a horizontal shielding over a window or along a wall in a plaster cove, where light is distributed upwards.

A vanity light is a type of fixture used at or over a bathroom mirror and often in the form of a long, well-diffused light source.

A vase is a common element of the body or stem of a chandelier that has a narrow base and neck and flares wider as it gains in height.

A veneer basically means a thin layer. In decorative arts, it refers to a technique that consists of affixing thin strips of fine wood, shell, straw, metal or other materials to the base material of a piece of furniture or fixture.

Verre eglomise is the technique of producing designs on glass with gold and silver foils. Once adhered to the glass, the metal foils are engraved with a stylus and then set off or highlight with black paint or another contrasting color. The term comes from the French word for glass: verre plus the name of the antique dealer and decorator Jean-Baptiste Glomy, who popularized wares made with this technique in the late 18th century.

A waxpan is a shallow dish originally used for catching wax drips, located either directly on top of the candle cup or directly below the candle cup. Also known as a drip pan. See also "Bobeche".

Wedgwood refers to a type of English pottery with a hard texture that was first produced by Josiah Wedgwood (1730¬1795), who used ancient Greek and Roman art, particularly carved shell cameos, as inspiration. Color combinations characteristic of Wedgwood pottery are typically white figures on a light blue, sage green, or black ground.

Welding is the process of joining metals by heating and fusing the adjacent surfaces and edges such that, when cooled, all gaps are closed and a uniform single piece results. The heat can be supplied by a torch burning a gas mixture of oxygen and acetylene, by an electric arc, or with a laser. Welding can also be achieved by heating two or more pieces of metal and then hammering them. The force of hammering the hot metal bonds the separate parts into one homogenous mass.

Wheel-cut engraving is the process of decorating the surface of glass by the grinding action of a wheel where an abrasive in a grease or slurry is applied to a wheel as the engraver holds the object against the underside of the rotating wheel. See also "Copper Wheel Engraving".

William and Mary is a period of English decorative arts from 1688 to 1702 characterized by ornamentation such as the cabriole leg and cup and bun turnings.

A very pure form of iron with very little carbon in the alloy. Tough and ductile, it is ideal for hot working and limited cold working such as bending, swaging, and drawing.

The chemical element Zn. Zinc is a blueish white metal used in decorative window framing, similarly to lead, though as zinc is much stiffer than lead, the width of zinc came is much narrower and more delicate. Zinc is otherwise infrequently used as a pure metal. Zinc is hugely important in the world of decorative metalworking as it is the principal alloy partner of copper in making brass. Zinc is also used as a coating for more reactive metals, providing a protective, stable, outer surface.