IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHING ON UNEVEN SURFACES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Cowper, of 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHING ON UNEVEN SURFACES,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE."-A communication from abroad
by John Henry Pein, of New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 23rd March 1860, and dated the 19th October 1859..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Cowper at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
October 1859.
I, CHARLES COWPER, of 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the. said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHING ON UNEVEN SURFACES, AND IN
APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-.
.
In the ordinary photographic apparatus or camera the object or picture is
focussed on a plate of ground glass, which is then. withdrawn and replaced by
a slide or frame containing the prepared or sensitive plate or surface which
is to receive the impression. This mode of proceeding is not, however,
applicable when the impression is to be taken on the side of a vase or other
uneven surface. By the present Invention the vase or other uneven surface is
placed in the camera and the picture is focussed upon it, and it is then
removed and covered with a coating of collodion or other suitable material,
and rendered sensitive to light, and then replaced in the camera in the same
position as when the picture was focussed, and it. is exposed a sufficient. time

page_text: and developed and fixed in the usual manner. In order to replace it in the
same position that it had previously occupied, the following apparatus is
employed-A piece of wood or other suitable material is fitted in a guide or
grooves at the bottom of the camera, so as to be capable of sliding backwards
and forwards, and being secured by a screw or nut. This board carries a
cylindrical upright rod, on which slides a cylindrical socket carrying a frame
in which is fitted a pan of rectangular or other suitable form. This frame
also carries another vertical rod with a screw socket and an elbow arm, which
carries a thin metallic frame of the size of the intended picture. In the pan
is a quantity of clay, putty, or other plastic material or cement, in which the
foot of the vase or other article is embedded or placed in such a manner that
it can be removed and replaced again exactly in the same place. It is placed
so that the part which is to receive the picture may be as nearly vertical as
possible, and its position is adjusted by the slides and means herein-before
mentioned until the picture is found to be properly in focus. The thin frame
is also adjusted to the vase, which is then removed and rendered sensitive and
again replaced, and the picture taken in the usual manner. The coating may
be applied in some cases before focussing; the object to be copied may be a
landscape or natural object, or a painting or photograph or other object.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Cowper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
COWPER, of 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Charles Cowper, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Cowper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles Cowper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and. Isle of Man, an Invention' for "IMPROVEMENTS IN

page_text: PHOTOGRAPHING ON UNEVEN SURFACES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE,"
communicated to me from abroad by John Henry Pein, of New York, in
the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Charles Cowper, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Cowper, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
In the ordinary photographic apparatus or camera, the object or picture is
focussed on a plate of ground glass, which is then withdrawn and replaced by
a slide or frame containing the prepared or sensitive plate or surface which is
to receive the impression. This mode of proceeding is not, however, appli-
cable when the impression is to be taken on the side of a vase or other uneven.
surface which cannot be placed in the frame, in the place of the ground glass.
By the present Invention, the focus is obtained in a direct manner on the
uneven surface itself by means of the apparatus herein-after described, and
the uneven surface is then removed and covered with a coating of collodion, or
other suitable material, and rendered sensitive to light, and it is then replaced
in the camera in the same position as when the picture was focussed, and it is
exposed a sufficient time, and developed and fixed in the usual manner.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a perspective view of the appa-
ratus employed for supporting and adjusting the article on which the photo-
graph is to be produced; Figure 2 is a section of the frame E and pan L,
herein-after described; Figure 3 is a perspective view of part of the camera;
Figure 4 is a vertical section of the same. A is a small bench or table, which
is placed inside the camera, or this table may form the bottom of the camera;
B is a horizontal sliding piece or plate admitting of regular horizontal recipro-
cating movements by means of the projecting parts or tongues of the plate
B sliding in the lateral grooves e, e, and also by means of the pin D sliding in
the central groove C. The vertical pin D passes through the plate B, and
through the groove C, being continued above and below the top of the bench
in such a manner that it may be fastened below, by means of a nut and screw,
or otherwise, and that the plate B may be fixed in any desired position. When

page_text: the table A forms the bottom of the camera, the groove C must be closed
during the operation of taking the picture, so as to prevent the entrance of.
light. A pan holder E is connected with the said pin, by. means of a hollow
cylinder a, moving vertically or horizontally on the said pin, and capable of
being fastened to the same in any desired position. The pan holder E is pro-
vided with a similar vertical pin G, which is connected with the frame F for
the picture, the said frame being attached to the said pin G by the moveable
arms H, H, the hollow cylinder and screw (a), and the elbow screw v, in such
a manner that the frame F may be moved to any desired position, and fixed
therein. The pan holder E is so constructed that a pan L may be fixed to the
same, or removed therefrom at pleasure; Figure 2 is a section of the L
pan
and pan holder E. The camera employed for this purpose is similar to that in
use for photographing on even surfaces, except that the tube O, Figures 3
and 4, containing the lens, is connected with the internal frame fitting into
the camera, and capable of sliding therein forward or backward, as may be
required for the size of the picture which is to be produced. If a photogra-
phic picture is to be produced by the apparatus, thus described, on a vase or
other irregular shaped object, I proceed in the following manner-I fill the
pan L with clay, putty, or other plastic material, and then place the vase N in
the said plastic material, in such a manner that the surface at F to be occu-
pied by the picture, is to have a position as nearly as possible vertical to the
bottom of the pan. I now place the pan containing the vase on the pan
holder in the camera, in such a manner that the surface to be occupied by the
picture at F should be opposite the lens of the tube O. I then slide the plate
B horizontally, and the pan L vertically and horizontally, until the space for
the picture is determined, and I secure the parts by the screws or nuts. The
frame F for the picture being formed of tin or other flexible material, cor-
responding in size with the size of the picture, and bent or shaped to the
surface of the vase, is then fitted tightly to the vase by the arms H, H, and
the screws and a, in such a manner that the picture should appear in the
central portion of the said frame F, which is now fastened and secured in this
position by aid of the screws a and v. The focus is adjusted by moving the tube
O in or out. A small door is made in the top or side of the camera, so tha
the operator may see the vase or other surface for the purpose of focussing
This door is closed so as to exclude the light when taking the photograph
The vase is then gently removed from the camera, and is prepared with a sen
sitive coating, and then with a nitrate of silver bath, and is again replaced int
the impression which it made previously in the clay. The vase is then s
turned and placed that it should occupy the exact position which it occupie

page_text: prior to its preparation. The picture or other object, which serves as the
original for the photographic copy on the vase, is placed in front of the lens
of the moveable tube O, the distance of the lens from the original depending
upon the desired size, and being attained by sliding the tube O in the external
tube P. The picture is then copied and developed in the usual manner. It
will be observed that the focus having been obtained, it is essential to place
the vase in the exact position in which the focus was determined. The hollow
cylinders at x and a serve to turn or to rotate the pan L and the frame F to
facilitate the changes in the position of the vase, and the frame required for
the various sizes, shapes, and attitudes of the photographic pictures which are
to be produced.
Having thus described the Invention communicated to me as aforesaid, I
wish it to be understood that what I claim is,―
First, producing photographs on vases and other uneven surfaces, by means
of an apparatus substantially as hercin-before described, and in the manner
substantially as herein set forth.
Second, the combination of apparatus herein-before described for photo-
graphing on vases and other uneven surfaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Cowper, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
CHARLES COWTER. (L.S.)