with concave oblong circular figures on

one side. There were various types of

pattern. It was sold in squares, of 12 or 14

in by 15 or 16in.

WEIGHTS AND QUANTITIES

These may conflict with information

gleaned by other researchers, as meas-

ures and quantities seem to have varied at

different periods (and possibly in differ-

ent places).

-  Crib: a hundredweight or 150 sq feet.

-  Case: 24 leaves, half cases also sold, of

12 leaves. Neve - a case ranged from 25

tables (French glass) to 45 of Newcastle.

This dependent on diameter of the table:

those 5 square foot were 45 to the case,

at 6 square foot there were 35.

-  Table or leaf: each unit of glass, uncut,

e.g. circles, or segmentally headed rec-

tangles in broad glass. According to Neve,

tables of crown were 3 ft 6 in or 3 ft 8 in,

giving area of 9-10 ft2. The case then had

a quantity of 220-240 ft2. Tables of crown

became larger during the 18th century,

measuring up to 5 ft and 6 ft in diameter.

-  Webb or way: this peculiar term to

describe a quantity of glass seems to have

been applied only in regard to Rhenish

glass. Each webb consisted of bunches of

six glass plates of about two square foot.

At the end of the 17th century there were

100 bunches per webb, but later 60 was

the usual amount.

-  Squares: the common term to describe

a rectangular pane of glass in timber

casements or sashes. Very often building

accounts only mention the term without

giving exact sizes. Sometimes this is elabo-

rated upon - the general sizes being from

6inby8inupwards, with l9inby 12 in

and 12 in by 16 in usual. Though most

panes were rectangular, square ones are

also found.

-  Quarries: Neve gives details about

calculating sizes of quarries, and the stand-

ards used, which would be of relevance

to anyone needing to calculate exact

measurements but are not necessary here.

Suffice to mention that there were two

types, ordinary and long, and that the

most usual size was 12s (meaning that

there are 12 of l2sinafootofglass); these

are 6 in long by 4  in wide.

-  Measuring glass according to weight:

Neve quotes a Mr Leybourn as stating

that225ftofglass equals about 200 lb, i.e.

9 ft is about 8 lb weight. In an article

which mentioned that the chapel in Dub-

lin Castle bought 600 lb of glass in the late

14th century, the author quotes the then

(1920s) clerk of works at York Minsteras

estimating 3 lb per foot of glass. The

discrepancy is interesting and may be

explained by extreme thinness of good

crown, which weighs less per foot.

It is hoped that this short explanation of

types and terms may be of some use to

those who come into contact with this

most aesthetic of materials. I am very

interested in any other information on

this subject, or others linked to it, if

anyone has snippets or knows of obscure

sources that I may have missed.

Nessa Roche is based in Dublin

CONTEXT 48