CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FACING, FIGURING, DESIGNATING, DECORATING, PLANNING, AND OTHERWISE FITTING UP. HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO ARTICLES OF FURNITURE
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ELIZABETH
WALLACE, of Laurel Lodge, Cheltenham, in the County of Gloucester,.
Spinster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her:
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-eighth
day of February, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the
eleventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Elizabeth Wallace, my exors, admors,
and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Elizabeth Wallace, my exors, admors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Elizabeth Wallace, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others; from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend; within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FACING,
FIGURING, DESIGNATING, DECORATING, PLANNING, AND OTHERWISE FITTING UP.
HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO ARTICLES OF
FURNITURE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Elizabeth Wallace, shall cause a particular description of the nature of

page_text: my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Elizabeth Wallace, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be, performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention has, firstly, for its object the facing of the walls, porches,
pillars, pilasters, and other external parts of houses and other buildings with a
combination of materials which is less liable to be affected by wet, damp, and
atmospheric impurities than any material or combination of materials hitherto
in use for the purpose, is of a beautiful lustre and great durability, and may
be made to exhibit externally any color or mixture of colors or disposition of
colors, arbitary or natural, and also to resemble closely any natural building
material, as, for example, pure white marble, veined marble, shell marble, por-
phyry, malachite, granite, &c. I make this new facing in tablets or pieces of
any required form, as round or square, flat or curved, and of any sizes con-
venient for use. The materials of which it is composed are, first, an outer
sheet of glass, the under side of which is either left blank, or painted and
figured in manner herein-after mentioned; and, second, a backing of plaster
of Paris of from half an inch to an inch in thickness. If it is intended that
the facing should have an uniform white appearance, I make use of white
glass, either clear or ground; but if polished white marble, such as the
Carrara, is meant to be imitated, I use the clear white glass only. If, again, a
substance is to be imitated in which white is the predominant color or ground,
as in many veined marbles and in shell marbles, I use also clear white glass;
but if a substance is to be imitated in which the predominant color or ground
is other than white, as, for example, the yellow. in Sienna marble, the purple
in porphyry, or the green in malachite, I impart a corresponding color to the
plaster of Paris, by preparing it with water, and dissolving in the water some
coloring matter or matters soluble in water which will produce the required
colour. The lines, strokes, dots, and other markings necessary to produce, in
conjunction with a white, yellow, or other ground color, the resemblance of
veined marble, shell marble, or other natural substance, are painted on the
under side of the glass by any of the several well-known methods of doing so
(as to which in themselves I make no claim); and they may be either burnt

page_text: in the usual way, or left to the protection of the glass and plaster of Paris
backing, which will in general be found amply sufficient for the purpose. The
glass must in every case be well annealed, but need not be of greater thickness
than ordinary crown glass, unless in the case of very large single tablets, for
which thick plate glass is preferable to any other sort of glass. The plaster of
Paris is laid on in a liquid state, and care taken to spread it evenly over the
glass. Each tablet, as finished, is placed in the open air, or in a warm
chamber, to dry, and when quite dry the glass is gently raised from the plaster
of Paris, by inserting a flat knife or blade between them, wiped clean, and
then restored to its place above the plaster. When plaster of Paris has been
once thoroughly dried, it possesses, as is well known, the property of being no
longer liable to any material expansion or contraction from variations of tem-
perature. To protect the tablets from the intrusion of moisture at the edges,
I coat these edges all over with white-lead paint. In finally proceeding to fix
them in their places, I first give the surface to be faced a thick coating of any
good white cement, and while this cement is yet in a moist and plastic state
I lay or imbed the tablets in it. And for greater security I drive into the
wall, at suitable places in the joinings, narrow copper nails with broad heads,
which overlap and hold fast the tablets; for example, supposing the tablets
are of a square form, one such nail inserted at each point where four corners
meet would overlap with its broad head the corners of four tablets, and every
tablet would have four such holdfasts. The heads of the nails might also be
covered with dead white glass (after the manner of glass buttons), so as to be
bardly distinguishable from the general surface of the wall.
Secondly, my Invention has for its object the facing of the walls, ceilings,
and other parts of the interiors of houses and other buildings with tablets
similar to those last described, and differing chiefly from them in the greater
variety and splendour of embellishment, which the application of them in such
places and situations admits of with propriety. For example, the tablets may
be made to represent marble, porphyry, or any of the other natural building
materials before mentioned; or they may exhibit representations (that is,
either the under surface of the glass or on the top surface of the plaster of
Paris,) of all sorts of objects, natural and artificial, as flowers, fruit, foliage,.
birds, landscapes, human figures, coats of arms, crests, &c., which representa-
tions may be either plain or colored, or gilt or silvered, and may be either
drawn or painted on the glass by the hand of the first designer or artist, or
by a copyist, or be transferred to the glass from engraved surfaces, or. printed
impressions of engraved surfaces, or be first drawn or painted, or printed or
stamped, or embossed on or cut out of paper or other suitable material, in

page_text: which last case the paper or other material must be made fast by gum or some
other adhesive substance to the plaster, after it has been thoroughly dried, and
the glass raised from it, as before explained. So also there may be imbedded
in the plaster of Paris, and covered over by the glass, pieces of sculpture
in intaglio or basso-relievo, or imitations in glass or other artificial compositions
of the diamond, ruby, emerald, and other precious stones, placed or grouped
in any desired order or lenses, (with their plain faces uppermost,) possessed
either of magnifying or diminishing properties, and with pictures or statuary
placed behind them. Again, the major part of a wall or ceiling, or compart-
ment of a wall or ceiling, may be covered with plain tablets, representing one
or other of the natural building materials aforesaid, and the centres or corners
or parts of the borders only be filled in with tablets of the pictorial character
just exemplified. Sometimes, in order to enhance the effect of such pictorial
tablets, (as where very strong lights are required,) I silver the front glass plate,
protect the silvering with silver paper, and interpose between the paper and
the plaster of Paris a sheet of white glass. And so also, to encrease the
'brilliancy of artificial gems, when embedded as aforesaid in the plaster of
Paris, I occasionally underlay them with tin foil. The colors used in painting
or drawing on the under side of the glass should be of the description commonly
used in glass painting, and known by the name of "enamel colors," which
will not be affected by any damp which may exude from the plaster backing
in the course of drying. But when an engraved print or drawing is to be
introduced into the tablet, or the picture is to be of any material which, like
paper, would be liable to be affected by damp, I proceed in the making up
of the tablets in the following order :-I first pour the plaster of Paris over
the glass to the required depth, and when it has become perfectly dry I raise
the glass from it in manner before directed. I then gum the print or other
pictured material on to the plaster, restore the glass to its place, press it
closely down upon the plaster, and finally coat the edges with white lead
paint. The imbedding of the sculptures, artificial gems, lenses, and other
objects is effected in this way:-I attach them slightly to the under side of
the glass in the positions they are intended to occupy by means of small
patches of plaster (turning the glass over for the purpose); I then form
round the glass an edging or moulding of wood or putty, and pour gently
into the enclosed space the plaster in a liquid state, so that it may diffuse
itself over and around the sculptures, gems, lenses, &c., without disturbing
them; and when the plaster has set sufficiently to bear lifting I remove
the moulding, raise the glass, as in the preceding instance, from the plaster,
and wipe clean the sculptures, gems, lenses, &c. from any adhering plaster or

page_text: moisture; replace the glass, press it closely down on the surface of the plaster,
and conclude by coating the edges as before with white lead paint.
Tablets of any of the varieties described under this head of my Specification.
may be fixed in their places in the same way as the tablets for the outsides of
houses have been before directed to be secured.
Thirdly, my Invention consists in employing to face the walls and other flat
parts of the interior of buildings a combination of materials which exhibits
externally all the appearance of figured gold, though. there is neither any
gold nor yellow metal employed in the same, and the surface of which com
position or combination is of a lustre which neither air nor damp can perma-
nently tarnish, and which can never at any time want more than wiping
clear to be as fresh and resplendent as at first. To make a flat tablet of this
description, I take a plate of figured yellow glass (the nearer the colour
of gold the better); to the back of this I attach a plate of plain yellow
glass, silvered; and I unite the two plates of glass by cementing them at the
edges with gutta percha or any other suitable cement. The result of the
combination is that the figured parts of the upper glass exhibit the appearance
of deadened or frosted gold, with a groundwork of burnished gold. Or, vice
versa, sometimes I substitute for the front plate of figured yellow glass a
plate of white glass, figured or ground (the whole of it or in parts only), and
sometimes I also dispense with the second sheet of glass altogether, and apply
the silvering at once to the back of the figured or ground front plate. Tho
effect is best when the figuring of the glass has been effected by cutting,
instead of by the more common fluoric acid process.
Instead of using in the formation of these tablets such figured glass as is to
be ordinarily met with in the market, the glass may be specially figured for
the purpose, and have any sort of subject, design, or pattern drawn or painted
on the under side of it, and burnt in also, if required, as has been before
described under the first head of this Specification. The fixing of the tablets
in their places may be effected either by setting them in cement (with a sheet
of silver paper interposed between the silvering of the under plate and the
cement), or by means of metal pins soldered to small patches of lead attached
by the process called quicking to the back of the under plate, in places scraped
clear of the silvering for the purpose, and inserted into the laths of the wall
or roof. The joinings may be concealed by overlaying them with narrow
mouldings of glass, inlaid with gold paper, in the manner next herein-after
described, and which mouldings may be readily made fast to the surface glass
by gutta percha solution.
Fourthly, to form pilasters, architraves, cornices, mouldings, beadings; and

page_text: other projecting architectural ornaments, with a golden appearance, equal, if
not superior; to that of the double yellow glass tablet before described, I
proceed as follows:-I first make a mould of the ornament in wood. I then
give this mould to a founder, who makes a reverse mould from it in metal;
either in one piece or several pieces, as practical convenience may determine;
I then hand this metal mould to the glass-blower, who takes hollow casts
from it in white glass, in the same way as he now forms bottles and other
hollow wares, that is to say, by blowing the glass into the mould, after which
these casts are annealed and fire-polished in the usual way. I next insert
into each cast a strip of gilt paper of a width sufficient to cover all the front
or projecting parts of the cast (drawing it through by means of a long needle
and thread), and back up this paper so as to press it as much as may be into
close contact with the glass by means of cotton wadding; and this done I
close up the ends of the cast with gutta percha solution or some other like air
and water proof cement. The gilt paper may be either plain or figured; and
in all cases paper gilt with the true gold leaf (not Dutch leaf) should be
preferred. Being shut up from contact with the atmosphere, this paper will
retain for an indefinite length of time its original freshness and brilliancy of
appearance. In fixing these ornaments in the places for which they are
destined, I place them with the back or flat side undermost, and make
them fast by means of gutta percha solution, marine glue, or any other suitable
⚫ cement.
Fifthly, my
Invention consists in the occasional substitution for the imitation
gold tablets and ornaments last herein-before described, of tablets and orna-
ments made to resemble silver, which I accomplish in manner following:-
To form flat tablets of this silver-like description, I first coat one side of a
plate of glass with black lead, and precipitate on this a thin coating of silver,
by the electric process or magneto-electric process. I then cover this silver
plated surface with a sheet of white glass (preferring the whitest and clearest I
can obtain), and finally connect the two plates by cementing them together at
the edges with some transparent cement, as gum copal or Riga balsam. Or,
instead of silvering the top surface of the under plate, I interpose between the
two plates a sheet of silvered paper, either plain or embossed, and in either case
well burnished. To form projecting architectural ornaments of this silver-like
description, I adopt precisely the same plan as in the case of the imitation
gold ornaments of that class, substituting only silvered for gilt paper.
Sixthly, my Invention consists in the employment of the following means of
rendering stained or painted or other figured glass, when introduced into the
windows, doors, domes, fanlights, and other parts of houses and other buildings,

page_text: more effective on both sides than hitherto, and in the application of the same
means to the formation of wall tablets and architectural ornaments similar
to those described' under the preceding heads of this Specification. And, first;
as regards stained or painted or other figured glass, I take a sheet of plain
white glass, give it a coating of gum, then sprinkle over it a quantity of what
are known in the glass trade by the name of "frostings," which are readily laid
hold of by the gum, and the glass thus prepared I attach to the stained or
painted or other figured glass on the inside, or that side which is next the in-
terior of the house or building, by means of gutta percha solution or some other
suitable cement applied to the edges. The frostings have on the inside the effect
of giving a beautiful lustre to all the lighter parts of the design on the stained
or painted or other figured glass, without impairing in the least the strength of
tone of the darker or colored portions, while they impart to the glass, when
viewed from the outside, much the same effect as if a flood of light were
streaming through from within. .In the case of wall and other flat tablets
where transparency is not required, or where at least an effect on one side
only is required to be produced, I apply these frostings to the underplates of
the tablets wherever such plates have been before directed to be silvered
(dispensing of course with the silvering), but with this difference, that the
frostings are applied to the front instead of the back of the under plate. Or
the gumming of frostings to the under plate may be altogether dispensed with,
by leaving a free space between the two glasses, and filling it up with loose
frostings. To inlay a hollow glass architectural ornament, such as before
described, with these frostings, I either fill it completely with the frostings (in
lieu of the gilt or silver paper and wadding), or I-coat it on the inside with
gum (by pouring a quantity of the gum solution through it), and then throw
in a quantity of frostings sufficient to cover the inner superficies, and attachi
them to the gum by shaking or whirling:
Seventhly, my Invention consists in the employment of tablets of any of the
varieties before described, or formed of a combination of any two or more of
the said varieties, or of parts of any two or more thereof, as mural monuments
in cathedrals, churches, civic halls, and other. public buildings, and also in the
construction of isolated monumental edifices in church-yards, cemetries, and
other places. In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, I
have given such exemplifications of this part of my Invention as will make
sufficiently clear the manner of carrying out the same. Figure 2 is a front
elevation of a mural monument suitable for the interior of a cathedral or
church, and Figure 3 a vertical section thereof. The parts A, A, A, A- are
composed of marble or common stone. B is an emblematic tablet, which is
formed in the way herein-before described, of a front plate of glass a, and a

page_text: backing 6 of plaster of Paris, and let into a recess made in the upper part of
the monument (see Figure 2). The figure of a crested urn B is painted on
the underside of the glass, and the imitation star D consists of a plano-concave
piece of white glass imbedded in the plaster of Paris, with the flat side uppermost,
and underlayed with tin foil. E is the inscription tablet, which is formed and let
into a recess in the basement of the monument in the same way as the upper
tablet, and has the words and figures of the inscription painted on the under-
side of the upper glass plate. Figure 3 is a front elevation, and Figure 4 a
vertical section, of a sepulchral edifice, which differs only from the preceding
in being isolated from any other building, and in the character of the funeral
emblems painted on the upper tablet B. The advantage of forming monuments
in this way is, that the principal or emblematic and inscriptive portions will
always stand prominently out from the other or subordinate parts, and may be
expected to retain all their original freshness and beauty long after the other
parts have become tarnished and decayed. Such monuments, too, though
they may be made to equal in appearance the most finely sculptured marbles,
will in no case cost nearly so much.
Eighthly, my Invention consists in the application of the principles of
construction herein-before developed to the improvement of the letters,
numerals, and devices used in the figuring, designating, and decorating of
houses and other buildings.
1. To make a raised letter or numeral on the same plan as the pro-
jecting architectural ornaments before described, which shall have all the
appearance of a highly gilt letter or numeral, but without any of the gilding
being exposed to the action of the atmosphere, I proceed as follows :-I
take pieces of half round or semicircular tubing, drawn or cast in the moulds
in the manner before described, and cut the same into lengths suitable for
forming into letters or numerals, making them either square or bevelled at the
ends, according to the positions they are intended to occupy. The letter)
for example, would be formed of three pieces (Nos. 1, 2, 3,) all of
2
='A
which would be bevelled at both ends, 'while the letter " would
consist of four pieces, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, of which No. 1 would be cut
perfectly square, and Nos. 2, 3, 4 should be square at the outer ends,
but bevelled at the opposite ends, so as to overlap No. 1 (the perpendi-
cular style being supposed to be adopted in both cases). Into each piece
I insert a strip of gilt paper of width sufficient to cover the front or round
part of the tube, and press it up into close contact with the glass, by
means of cotton wadding, as before explained. I then close up each end

page_text: with plastic gutta percha or putty. The pieces of which each letter or
numeral is composed are next. put together with the flat sides undermost
upon a foundation plate of zinc or tin, cut into the exact form of the letter or
numeral, and secured thereto by gutta percha solution or some other suitable
cement. The letter or numeral is ultimately attached to the facia or other
part of the house or building which it is to occupy, by means of metal pins
soldered to the back or metal foundation plate, or passed through ears, two,
three, or more, formed on the edges of that plate. Or, instead of thus making
up the pieces into entire letters or. numerals, and then fixing these letters or
numerals in their places by the means aforesaid, I proceed as follows:-I
quick each separate piece at the back in one or two places of just sufficient
sizo to enable me to solder a metal pin or pins thereto, and I attach the pieces
at once to the facia or other show place (without the intervention of any
foundation plate), securing each piece in its proper place by its own pin or pins.
I have assumed in the preceding descripting that all the parts of each letters
and numeral are and may be readily formed out of straight glass tubing;
but it remains that, I should explain how the parts corresponding to the
curved parts in letters and numerals of the ordinary character are produced.
I make up these parts of short and straight pieces, cut, bevelled, and arranged
so as to approximate sufficiently in general appearance to the required curves.
An example of this mode of building up an imitation of a curved letter is
given in Figure 5. No doubt glass tubing can be curved, but as there are
some practical difficulties in the way, I prefer the mode of adapting straight
tubing to curvilineal purposes which has just been described, but without
excluding myself from the use of curved tubing when I choose to resort to it.
2. To make a raised letter or numeral which, like the preceding, shall have
the material whereby the gilding or appearance of gilding is produced applied
beneath the outer surface, but possess greater prominence, transparency, and
refractive.power, I make the parts of which each letter or numeral is com-
posed out of thick pieces of white glass of a triangular form, in one side of
each of which pieces hollow spaces are left in the process of moulding, of any
required shape, as, for example, there may be one long groove running down
the centre, or two sets of grooves crossing one another angularly, or a row of
circular or oval hollows; and these pieces are cut and polished in the same way
as drop pincers are accustomed to cut and polish the drops of chandeliers,
after which all the hollow parts are gilt by the usual process of gilding.
Or, instead of white glass, yellow glass may be used, and the whole silvered
or quicked instead of gilt. The pieces of which each letter or numeral is
composed are put together on a foundation plate of well planished zinc or
tin, with the side undermost on which the hollow spaces are, and they are

page_text: made fast by means of metal pins soldered to patches of quicking formed in
manner before explained on the hollowed side, passed through corresponding
holes in the foundation, and secured on the opposite sides by nuts. The parts
of the letters and numerals corresponding to the curves in ordinary letters and
numerals are compounded of short straight pieces, in the same way as has
been explained in the preceding section of this branch of my Specification.
The entire letter or numeral is affixed to the facia or other show place by means
of copper gilt pins, through ears, two, three, or more, formed on the edges of
its foundation plate. Letters and numerals formed in this way have a very
radiant and striking effect. The gilt or silvered hollow spaces on the under-
most are repeated to the eye on the two other sides, producing the same effect
as if every one of the sides was separately gilt or silvered. It is obvious that
letters might be formed in the same way of pieces of glass of a quadrilateral
or any other parallelogramic form; but as neither of these forms offer the
same advantages as the triangular or prismoidal I do not recommend them.
3. To form raised but flat letters and numerals, having, like the wall
tablets described under the third head of this Specification, all the appearance
of gold, without any gold or yellow metal being used in their formation, and
much more capable than gold itself of resisting the action of the atmosphere,
I proceed as follows:-I procure from the glass manufacturer some plates of
yellow glass, divided by double lines into rectangular compartments of the
width of the intended letters or numerals, the interior of which compart-
ments may be either plain or figured, according to the character of letter or
figure I am desirous of producing. I then cut these plates into thin strips by
running a diamond between the double lines, by which they are divided into
compartments, so that each strip as cut off remains with an edging or bor-
dering on each side. I next cross cut these strips into the different lengths
required for the straight parts of the letters and numerals. The curved parts
I cut in entire pieces out of similarly colored glass, supplying the edging or
bordering by cutting the same upon the under side of each piece. I now
match each of these straight and curved pieces with a piece of plain yellow
glass, silvered or quicked at the back, cut out of a sheet of such glass, and
matched by superposition, and, finally, I put the pieces of which each letter or
numeral is composed together upon a foundation plate of zinc or tin of the
exact form of the letter or numeral, but exceeding it in width to an extent
equal to the thickness of the two plates of glass; that is to say, I first lay the
silvered pieces on the foundation plate; I then superimpose upon the silvered
pieces the corresponding pieces of unsilvered yellow glass (plain or figured,
as the case may be, and unite the three pieces together by coating the edges
of the glass plates with a solution of gutta percha, turning up the sides of the

page_text: foundation plate, and pressing them up close against the edges of the glass.
Instead of both of the plates being yellow, the under one only may be yellow,
and the upper one figured white glass, in which case the appearance produced
is that of burnished and matted gold. And further, instead of two plates of
glass, one only may be used, and that of a yellow color, silvered or quicked at
the back, and attached to a foundation plate, as before explained, but such
single glass letters are of much inferior brilliancy. The mode of fixing all
the letters and numerals of this glass is by passing pins through ears, one,"
two, or more, formed on the edges of the foundation plates. Letters of this
description, instead of being formed of yellow glass, or yellow and white glass,
so as to have the appearance of gold, may be formed of other colored glasses
combined in the same manner, and silvered or quicked at the back.
4. Another class of letters and numerals of a very beautiful description
is formed by the combination in manner following of a number of small and
irregular cubes of cut glass (called in the glass trade "brilliants"), and which
may be had of all colors, all white, emerald, canary, ruby, and made of any
required form, as round, square, oblong, &c. If a letter or numeral of this
class is to be attached to an opaque surface on a stucco front or wooden sign
board, I quick each piece at the back or on the under face, in the same way.
as before mentioned, and solder to the quicking a metal pin, by which the
piece may be either affixed directly to the stucco front or sign board,
or other shew place, or made fast to a foundation plate of zinc or tin
provided with ears for fixing it up (as herein-before explained). The pieces:
are put on in rows above or alongside of one another, and in such order as to
form a distinct representation of each letter and numeral. If, however, the
letter or numeral is intended to be attached to a transparent surface, as a shop
window, then I dispense with the quicking, and attach the pieces to the glass
of the window by means of some cement which will not materially im-
pair the lustre of the brilliants. And sometimes, in order to improve
the lustre of the brilliants, and sometimes in order to improve the effect pro-
duced, I make use of two brilliants, one on the outside of the glass and one on
the inside, placed with their bases exactly opposite to one another. The best
cement for this purpose would be a solution of gutta percha, because of its
being waterproof, and not affected by any degrees of temperature known to
this climate, provided it could be procured colorless, or nearly so; but as in
the state in which it is now ordinarily sold it is of a yellowish or brownish hue,
I can only recommend it to be employed in the case of brilliants of the darker
colors, as ruby, green, or purple. Failing colorless gutta percha solution, the
cement most proper to be used (according to my experience) is the varnish
known among japanners by the name of "white. varnish," which is composed

page_text: of
gum sandarac and Venice turpentine and rectified spirits of wine; but there
are other various cements and varnishes which if properly decolorized (which
most of them are susceptible of being) would answer the purpose, and I do
not therefore limit myself to the use of any particular cement. Instead of
making such letters and numerals wholly of brilliants, other descriptions of
glass ornaments may be intermixed, as shelves, leaves, flowers, &c.
5. Flat letters and numerals of a description also very suitable. for windows
and other transparent surfaces are made in manner following:-I have flat
pieces of glass of any desired color, as yellow, green,ruby, &c., made by casting
or cutting of widths and lengths. suitable for being formed into letters, with
rows of holes up the middle of them of a circular, oval, or diamond, or any
other fancy shape, and I affix these pieces to the window, glass, or other
transparent surface in the positions requisite for forming the letters or numerals,
by means of any of the cements mentioned in the preceding section. Or,
instead of making such letters of glass, I make them of brass or zinc, and in
that case use indifferently any sort of cement, whether transparent or opaque,
which will attach the metal to glass. The orifices in these letters and numerals
impart to them a very striking character, and enable them to be seen at night
when any flat unforward letter or numeral would be only very imperfectly
visible.
6. I make glass letters and numerals suitable for all situations at a very
cheap rate out of tubular glass in manner following:-The glass may be either
altogether opaque, like opal, or of the sort called opal, or partly opaque a
and partly
transparent, the opaque and transparent parts alternating with each other in
straight or curved lines, or in forms of any other character, and it may be of any
color or combination of colors. It is drawn in entire tubes of any required size in
the usual way of drawing such tubes. In order to form these tubes into letters
and numerals, I cut them lengthwise into half tubes, quarter tubes, or tubes of
other portions of a circle, according to the breadth and length desired to be given
to the letters or numerals, and afterwards I cross cut these half tubes, quarter tubes,
&c. into short lengths, with either square or bevilled ends, as may be required;
I then form the letter or numeral by laying semicircular or segmental pieces,
of which it is to consist, with the flat side undermost, on a foundation plate of
zinc or tin, made with small side wings at suitable distances apart, which, after
the pieces have been arranged in their places, are turned up so as slightly to
overlap the pieces, and hold them fast, yet not so tightly but that they may
expand and contract freely under variations of temperature.
7. Projecting and transparent letters and numerals may be constructed
on the same plan as the brilliants described under the fourth section, but on a
much larger scale; and at a great reduction of cost, by substituting for the

page_text: brilliants half globes of blown and fire polished glass, which, like the brilliants,
may be of any desired colour. Such globes may be made either with a solid
diaphragm on the chord line, or quite hollow, so as to allow in the latter case of
their being gilt or silvered inside, or inlaid with any other description of
ornament.
•
8. Letters and numerals, of a kind to which I give the name of "medallion.
letters or numerals," are formed by imbedding in plaster of Paris glass bril-
liants or other glass ornaments similar to those before described, in the order of
arrangement and combination requisite to form such letters and numerals,
covering the same over with glass, and setting the whole in a tin' or zinc case,
made to suit, coated to resemble stone, and provided with a narrow flange at
top, which may be turned over upon the glass, and with projecting eye pieces
at the back by which the case may be secured to the house front or other place
which it is destined to occupy. The mode of imbedding the brilliants is
precisely the same as that before directed to be pursued in inlaying wall tablets
with similar ornaments. All the cases of these medallion letters and numerals
should be of exactly the same dimensions.
Another mode of forming "medallion letters and numerals" is as follows:-
The figure of the letter or numeral is pinched into a mass of glass of a plano-
concave form, in the manner well known to glass pinchers; the flat side is
quicked, and the round side fire polished. Metal pins are soldered to the
quicking, and the medallion secured thereby, with the flat side undermost to
the place where it is to be exhibited.
%
9. And, finally, I apply the various modes of and materials for forming
letters and numerals before described, either in whole or in part, to the
formation or embellishment of the coats of arms, trade emblems, and other
devices commonly used to designate and decorate public offices, shops, hotels,
taverns, &c., preferring more especially for this purpose the brilliants described
under the fourth section of this head of my Specification. I apply also the mode
of pinching used in the formation of the medallion letters and numerals to the
production of the caps of pillars, pillasters, and other architectural ornaments..
Ninthly, my Invention consists in the following improved mode of fitting up
the interiors of houses, where the walls are intended to be covered with paper
hangings, or plastered and painted. Supposing the four sides of a room to be
divided into equal compartments, I cut out an open recess of any appropriate
form in each compartment, at a height of about five feet from the ground, and
I insert therein a tablet, formed in the manner described under the second
head of this Specification, and exhibiting underneath the upper glass the
representation of some striking pictorial object, as a statue, a bust, a vase of
flowers, &c.; or in place of the tablet I insert a plain convex or. plano-concave

page_text: lens with an actual piece of sculpture or sculpture cast placed behind it.
The recesses should be surrounded with mouldings formed in the plaister, and
the paper hangings (where such are used) should be made with bordered
apertures in them to fit the recesses exactly. The plan just described admits
of many modifications, but as they will readily suggest themselves to all
persons conversant with the art of household decoration any further exempli-
fications are here unnecessary.
Tenthly and lastly, my Invention consists in the application of certain parts
of the improvements before described to the embellishment of articles of
furniture.
Flat tablets and plates formed by any of the modes herein-before
described may be employed as pannels in cabinets and cabinet work of every
description, as chimney pieces, as tops of console and other tables, as door
finger plates, as side plates to stoves and fireplaces, and generally as a
substitute for flat surfaces of all sorts in articles of furniture.
Frames for looking glasses and pictures may be formed of glass, with the
gilding, or with the materials productive of the appearance of gilding, under-
neath the glass, in the same way as the raised architectural ornaments and
hollow gilt letters before described.
Curtain poles having the appearance of the highest gilding may be formed
of a tube of white glass, with a wooden pole inside, made to fit it as exactly
as may be, and having a bordering of gilt paper wound round it, or rows of
the same bordering pasted along the front half of the pole.
.
Curtain poles of a sparkling silvery appearance may be formed of a glass
tube coated on its inuer periphery with glass frostings in the manner herein-
before explained.
Window cornices may be formed of yellow glass, silvered or quicked, and
cut to pattern by a glass cutter in or more pieces. If cut in points, as gilt
cornices generally are, I hang to such points yellow beads, blown to represent
the bobbins now used, and these I twist with spun glass in imitation of the
silk now ordinarily employed for the purpose.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention in the several
parts thereof, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare
that the improvements which I claim as constituting my said Invention are
as follows:-
First, I claim the employment for the facing of the external parts of houses
and other buildings of tablets composed of glass and plaster of Paris, and
variegated and embellished in any of the modes or by any of the means
specified under the first head of this Specification.
Second, I claim the employment for the interior decoration of houses and

page_text: other buildings of tablets composed of glass and plaster of Paris, and
embellished by means of drawing, painting, silvering, quicking, inlaying, and
otherwise, as exemplified and described under the second head of this
Specification.
Third, I claim the employment of all the purposes of my Invention of the
three several combinations of figured yellow glass, and silvered yellow glass,
figured white glass, and silvered yellow glass, and figured yellow glass, silvered
or quicked at the back, described under the third head of this Specification.
Fourth, I claim the forming of pilasters, architraves, cornices, mouldings,
beadings, and other projecting architectural ornaments of glass, inlaid or under-
laid with gilt or silvered paper, as described under the fourth head of this
Specification.
Fifth, I claim the two modes of forming tablets and architectural ornaments
to imitate silver described under the fifth head.
Sixth, I claim the employment of glass frostings as a substitute for silvering,
in the manner and in the cases specified under the sixth head.
Seventh, I claim the application to mural monuments and sepulchral edifices
of tablets of any of the varieties herein described, or formed of a combination
of any two or more of these varieties, or of parts of any two or more of them,
as exemplified in the Drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, hereunto annexed, and
before described.
Eighth, I claim the employment for figuring and designating of houses and
other buildings of the various sorts of letters and numerals described in
sections 1 to 8, both inclusive, of the eighth head of this Specification, and the
application of the materials used in such letters and numerals (so far as the
same are applicable) to the embellishment of coats of arms, shop signs, and
other like emblematic devices.
Ninth, I claim the improved mode of fitting up the interiors of houses
described under the ninth head of this Specification.
And, tenth, I claim the application of so much of the improvements before
described and claimed to articles of furniture as are applicable to such
purposes, and more especially the particular applications enumerated under the
tenth head of this Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elizabeth Wallace, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
ELIZABETH (L.s.) WALLACE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1848, the aforesaid Elizabeth Wallace came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.