Lead and Tiffany Binding

Lauretana Arte deals with classic style stained glass windows, proposing the “Lead binding” and “Tiffany” style.

The lead binding, with its style with an ancient and evergreen flavor, plays an important role in the window appearance and in what is the definition of the different images. The stained glass windows of churches and cathedrals have benefited from this incomparable technique for centuries.
Lead is a gray / bluish, malleable and deformable material. Often used in an alloy with silver and tin, it has a rather low melting point. It can therefore be melted or reduced into sheets and oxidizes in contact with air, covering itself with a greyish film.
In the art of glass, lead rods vary in size and are used to assemble the pieces of glass into a panel and to close the outline.
The section has a double groove, the chamber, in which the two adjacent pieces of glass are tightened. The thickness and width vary according to the eras, use and casting techniques.
In the so called Tiffany binding method, each piece of glass is covered with a fine copper tape, which allows the pieces to be welded together. The immediate striking advantage of the Tiffany binding is that of a greater freedom in designing sinuous shapes and decorative details.

These photos are an example of the work. The company does not produce mass-produced products, but it work on commission, adapting to the needs and requests of the customer.