I have sold quite a lot of antique, vintage and now contemporary art glass in my many years on ebay. I always find it exciting! But it is getting harder and harder to buy good verifiable vintage or antique art glass on ebay because of a flood tide of fakes -- which are difficult to evaluate on line. So I have begun to focus my attention on the many excellent living art glass artists and am pleased to report that unless you have your heart set on spending thousands and thousands of dollars for a dubious piece of Tiffany, you have some fabulous options for collecting from verifiable new artists who have come (or are coming into) their own level of fame. Half the fun of collecting new art glass is picking and supporting an artist that you think has the potential to become another Tiffany or Moser.

I developed this guide because I thought it might be helpful to the new contemporary art glass collector to understand some of the terms commonly used to described these pieces. Not only will you understand what the seller is talking about, but you will also develop an understanding for level of difficult and mastery required to produce the piece, and that will help you in valuation. It is also important to study the old masters to understand the new masters. There are several excellent glass library resources online, some tied to sellers of glass and others affiliated with museums. All are worthwhile spending some time studying because it will help you understand the evolution of glass making.

New glass artists produce three kinds of glass -- functional, decorative and architectural. Glass artists work in the same basic ways to produce an infinite variety of results: blowing (in which the item is form freely from the tip of a blow wand), mold-blowing (in which it is blown into a mold and finished decoratively) or slab construction (such as stained glass). Additional artistry comes into play with the types of decorations (applied or carved) that the artist employs. The more elaborate art glass usually involves a variety of methods to produce a unique result -- that is what makes it collectible and also identifiable as a specific artist. Effects can vary based on type of materials used, furnace temperatures, order of application and, of course, the skill and creativity of the artist.

To understand value, it is usually good to study a number of different pieces and different styles by the same artist and compare prices. Size, complexity, time to complete, cost of materials, all go into determining price. Then add to that the popularity of the artist. Following are some terms that you may encounter in searching out the new glass artists on ebay:

air twist: bubbles within the glass which are twisted to decorative effect, usually within a glass stem

bullicante: decorative effect of controlled bubble pattern

cane: this is a rod of glass, in different or combined colors, used by the glassmaker to produce colorful effects such as millefiore (a thousand flowers) so popular in paperweights

cased: layers of glass built upon one another, often cut away for decorative effect

fluting - concave decorative pattern that is raised (in contrast to reeding which is convex)

gilding - Genuine gold-leaf ground and mixed with honey, oil, or mercury, then painted on and fired in a low temperature kiln

gold leaf - genuine gold in extremely fine thin layers used as an inclusion in the glass

lampwork - making small articles of glass utilizing canes of glass and a small burner

latticino - fine threads of lattimo (opaque or milk) glass used in decorative patterns within the glass

satin glass - a method of acid etching that "frosts" the glass

pate de verre - invented in ancient Egypt then revived during the Art Nouveau period in France, it literally means "glass paste". Powdered glass, usually several colors, is fired, fusing it and giving it an alabaster finish.

pulegoso - random decorative bubbles

reeded - cut or molded convex ribs, usually seen in handles

sommerso - a type of glass that is deeply cased - literally "submerged" in another thick layer of glass

I will be adding to this glossary over time. If you see a glaring omission, please feel free to email your suggestions. I want this to be a truly useful guide and to encourage the collection of contemporary art glass -- there are some fabulous artists to discover! Enjoy!