An etched-glass surface may be either rough and frosted or satiny smooth and translucent, depending largely on the composition of the glass and the amount of time the glass is exposed to the acid.
On transparent glass, such as was used in Europe, the effect is a brilliant iridescence, but on opaque glass, which Tiffany employed, the effect is a soft, satiny sheen.
He became convinced that the systematic use of the Impressionistic technique was no longer sufficient for him and that small brushstrokes of contrasting colours placed side by side did not allow him to convey the satiny effects of the skin.
In the 1920s "all sorts of men suddenly wanted to look like Noël Coward", wrote his would-be rival, Cecil Beaton, "– sleek and satiny, clipped and well groomed, with a cigarette, a telephone, or a cocktail at hand".
Here she is, dressed in her opulent mourning clothes, attired in black satin, in a fur-trimmed coat which gives off that gorgeously characteristic satiny sheen.
A dish of gentle curds of golden scrambled eggs served with furls of satiny smoked salmon, from the excellent London smokehouse H Forman & Son (£12.50), makes a fine lunch, with hot toast straight from the gleaming Kenwood.
Grebes can be distinguished by their lobed toes with flat nails, greatly reduced tail feathers, and satiny breast feathers.
The room has been painted a vivid teal; and at the many windows hang curtains of satiny teal fabric, printed with the seal of the borough of Brooklyn.
Sliced about an eighth of an inch thick, it has a firm texture and satiny underpinnings that are best appreciated when accompanied by a chunk of baguette and a glass of Beaujolais.
The first section flies past, and the wave — it's slightly overhead, and changing angle as it breaks, so that it now blocks out the sun — stands revealed: a long, steep, satiny arc curving all the way to the channel.
Zora herself looked ageless, like a nymph, with her short hair, although once she got his glasses off she became a blur of dim and shifting shapes and might as well have been Dick Cheney or Lon Chaney or the Blob, except that she smelled good and, but for the occasional rough patch, had the satiny skin of a girl.
