What are the metallic salts used to make carnival glass.
As an aspiring glass artist I would like to replicate the irridescence found on carnival glass. All of the references I've found so far just say they used various metallic salts without identifying them. I'm guessing many were proprietary. But I was curious if you guys have some ideas what they might have used back in the 1908 - 1930 time frame.
The iridescence in carnival glass was primarily created using metal chlorides and nitrates sprayed onto the hot glass surface. The most common was stannous chloride (tin chloride) and iron chloride, sometimes mixed with other metalic salts like bismuth nitrate, titanium chloride, or lead chloride. The glass artists would spray these solutions while the glass was still hot, causing the metals to bond to the surface and create that characteristic rainbow effect. You might find some modern formulations online, but those historical recipes were definitely using tin compounds as the primary ingredient.
Awesome, thanks.
Unfortunately it doesn't say which metal oxides or salts were used. Is it "just about anything"? Or something much more specific?