When you look at the area of glassware, you will see many different colors and finishes that the glass was made with.  There are as many distinct color combinations as there are manufacturing techniques.  Here’s a few of them that you will most likely run across:

Cased Glass—this is glass of one color that has been covered with one or more layers of assorted colors. The outer layers are then acid-etched, carved, cut, or even engraved to produce a design.  This design will stand out from the background, and will have a kind of raised motif when done. The first cameo glasses were made by the Romans in ancient times, and the genre was revived in England and America (to a lesser amount) in the late 19th century.

Flashed Glass—this is glass that has one color with a very thin applied color on the outside (like crystal glass that has a cranberry color applied to it).  This technique is accomplished by applying a chemical compound to the glass and then re-firing the piece to bring out the desired color.  Flashed glass is often used for etched glass (the flashing will be applied after the etching is completed).

Gilding—this is the process of decorating glass using gold leaf, gold paint, or even gold dust. There are examples that have the gilding applied with mercury (it’s called Mercury Gilding.  It’s rarely done today due to its toxicity).  The gilding is then usually attached to the glass by heat.

Peachblow—this is a type of Art Glass made by quite a few American factories in the late 1800’s.  Most Peachblow glass has a coloring that shaded from an opaque cream to pink (or even red), sometimes even over an opaque white.  There was a similar glass that was made in England (it was by Thomas Webb & Sons and even Stevens & Williams).

This is only a small sampling of what has been made.  What kinds of colored glass have you run across?