A Glassculpt portrait is layered glass: each piece cut to shape, placed by hand and built up into dimensional relief on a natural linen ground, then framed in a walnut shadow box, ready to hang, at 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm. Tedooo draws the design in about a minute; the studio builds it in about five weeks.
The specification
- Portrait
- Layered glass, in dimensional relief
- Glass
- Cut to shape and placed by hand, sorted by colour before placing
- Ground
- Natural linen
- Frame
- Walnut shadow box, deep enough to hold the relief
- Hanging
- Ready to hang on the shadow box's own fitting
- Sizes
- 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm
- Name
- Optional, up to 20 characters, set in glass under the portrait
- Quote
- Optional, up to 80 characters on one to three centred lines
- Words-only sign
- Up to 60 characters on up to four lines, no photo needed
- Design
- Drawn from your photo by Tedooo technology in about a minute; free until you approve
- Lead time
- About five weeks door to door; 32–36 days today, the estimate shown before you pay
- Packing
- Boxed with its corners protected, tracked end to end, ships worldwide
How a portrait is built
The photo is drawn in glass
Upload a photo on the create page; Tedooo's design technology turns it into a glass portrait design in roughly a minute. It is free and needs no card; edit the name or swap the photo and let it draw again until one is right.
You approve, then check out
The approved design is what gets built, so approving comes before paying. Nothing is charged until you check out through Tedooo, and nothing is cut until the payment clears. The size and the delivery estimate are shown before you pay.
The design is checked and the glass sorted
Before any glass is cut, the design is checked against your photograph. The loose glass is sorted by colour into small dishes on the bench, matched to the colours the design calls for.
Each piece is cut and placed
Every piece of glass is cut to the shape the design needs and placed by hand with fine tweezers, fixed with adhesive on the linen. The face is built up piece by piece; the eyes are done last and get the most time.
The relief is layered
The pieces are built up one layer over the next into dimensional relief, so the face stands off the linen and throws its own small shadows. This is the stage that takes the weeks, and the reason the piece catches the light the way it does.
It is framed in walnut
The relief on its natural linen ground is finished in a dark walnut shadow box, deep enough to hold it so that nothing bears on the glass. The box carries its own fitting, so the piece is ready to hang.
It is packed and tracked
The framed piece is boxed with its corners protected and sent tracked end to end. It reaches most addresses in about five weeks door to door, and it ships worldwide, with shipping and any duties calculated at checkout.
What is a glass portrait made of?
Glass, linen and walnut. The portrait is real glass, cut to shape and layered by hand; the ground it stands on is natural linen; the frame is a walnut shadow box.
The colours are the glass: a tricolour dog comes out in glossy black, chestnut and pearl-white, a couple in pearly layered glass, a baby in pearl and peach. Lettering, where you add it, is raised glass on the linen as well. Nothing on the piece is printed. The parts are gone through one by one in the materials guide.
Why is it layered rather than printed?
Because a print is flat and a face is not. Layering the glass one piece over the next builds the portrait up into dimensional relief, so it stands off the linen, throws its own small shadows, and changes as the light moves across it.
That is also why the shadow box is deep: the relief needs room, and the frame holds it rather than pressing on it. The glass is there to be seen and touched. The cost of building it this way is time, which is where the weeks go; the lead time guide sets out the figures.
How do I care for it?
Dust it with a soft dry brush or a cold hairdryer, not a cloth dragged across the glass, and away from long hours of hard sun.
- Dust: a soft dry brush or a cold hairdryer, from the top of the frame down
- Never a cloth dragged across the surface: it is layered glass and the edges catch
- Light: the glass will not fade, but hours of strong direct sun yellow the linen in time
- If a piece comes loose, write to the studio before trying anything; a person answers, usually within the day
That is the whole routine; the care guide explains why each rule is there.
How is it packed and shipped?
Built and packed in the studio, boxed with its corners protected, and tracked end to end. It reaches most addresses in about five weeks; the estimate for your order is shown before you pay.
It travels in its walnut shadow box, so it is ready to hang as soon as it is lifted out. The piece ships worldwide, the checkout working out the shipping and any duties for the address you give; for a gift, put the recipient's address there and it goes straight to them.
What is not in a glass portrait?
No print, no photograph under glass, no paint, and no lettering you did not ask for. A ready-made piece from the shop carries nobody's name; a piece from your photo carries a name only if you type one.
Nor is there anyone else's photograph in it. The studio's only use for yours is drawing and building your piece; it goes nowhere else, teaches nothing, and is erased once the order is complete. The glass, the linen and the walnut are the studio's; the drawing is Tedooo's; and the purchase itself runs through Tedooo.
Is every piece built the same way?
Yes. The catalogue portraits, the holiday and occasion designs, the quote panels and the signs all go through the same stages, in the same glass, linen and walnut, at 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm.
What differs is the design: a portrait from your photo on the create page, a ready design from the shop with its wording and layout set, or words alone with no photo. Every piece is one of one, drawn for the person it is for.
Questions this leaves
Is it real glass?
Yes. The portrait is sculpted in real glass, each piece cut to shape and placed by hand, and layered into dimensional relief on natural linen. It is glass you can see and touch, not a print of one, which is why it stands off the cloth and catches the light.
Is the frame included, and is it ready to hang?
Yes to both. Every piece is finished in its walnut shadow box, deep enough to hold the relief, and the box carries its own fitting. Lift it out of the shipping box and hang it; there is nothing to attach to the frame.
What sizes does it come in?
30 × 30 cm or 50 × 50 cm, both square. The 30 suits a hallway, a shelf or the wall by the stairs and starts at $139; the 50 holds its own above a sofa or a sideboard, with its price shown live on the create page.
Who draws the design and who builds it?
Tedooo's design technology draws the design from your photo in about a minute, free. The studio builds it: the glass is cut, layered and framed by hand, and the studio compares the design with your photograph before the first piece is cut. The purchase itself runs through Tedooo.
Can it be returned?
No. Each piece is built for one buyer from one approved design, and there is no return on it. That is the reason the design is shown before anything is cut, the reason approving comes ahead of paying, and the reason the studio answers questions before you buy, generally the same day.