AN IMPROVEMENT IN LOOKING GLASSES AND MIRRORS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Wheeldon, of No. 174, Liverpool Road,
Burslem, in the County of Stafford, Glass Cutter, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN LOOKING GLASSES AND MIRRORS."
Scaled the 7th October 1859, and dated the 8th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Wheeldon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th April 1859.
I, MATTHEW WHEELDON, of No. 174, Liverpool Road, Burslem, in the
County of Stafford, Glass Cutter, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN LOOKING GLASSES AND MIRRORS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object the ornamenting and increasing the reflective
powers of looking glasses and mirrors, and consists in cutting, carving, or
engraving an ornamental border or other design on one side of the plate or
other glass, and afterwards silvering the same on the side which is cut or
otherwise as may be desired, but silvering the mirror on the side which
is cut, carved, or engraved is preferable, as it gives a perfectly smooth surfaco
(to the feel) on the front of the mirror. The plates when, thus cut and silvered

page_text: are applicable to all the purposes of an ordinary mirror, and have a very
pleasing effect.
The plates are also applicable to all kinds of decorative purposes, such as
insertion in furniture, doors, panels for ship's and other saloons, and a variety
of other purposes of embellishment or decoration, and besides being highly
ornamental, the reflecting powers of the mirrors or plates, when thus cnt and
silvered, are thereby greatly increased or multiplied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Wheeldon in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the
7th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
WHEELDON, of No. 174, Liverpool Road, Burslem, in the County of Stafford,
Glass Cutter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Matthew Wheeldon, Her special licence that I, the said
Matthew Wheeldon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Matthew Wheeldon, my exccutors, 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
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN LOOKING GLASSES AND MIRRORS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Matthew Wheeldon, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under niy, or their, or one of
their hands and scals, should particularly 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 Matthew Wheeldon, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, that is to say :-

page_text: My Invention has for its objects the ornamenting and increasing the
reflective powers of looking glasses and mirrors, and consists in frosting,
roughing, or obscuring, and cutting, carving, or otherwise producing an
ornamental border or other design on one or both sides of the plate or other
glass, and afterwards silvering the same on the side on which the pattern or
design is cut or produced, or otherwise as may be desired; but silvering the
glass or mirror on the side which has been frosted, roughed, or obscured, and
cut or carved is preferable, as it gives a perfectly smooth surface (to the feel)
on the front or face of the glass or mirror, when the said cutting or carving
is on one side only. These plates when thus frosted and cut, or otherwise
ornamented and silvered, are applicable to all the purposes of an ordinary
looking glass or mirror, and have a very pleasing effect. They are also
applicable to all other useful, ornamental, or decorative purposes to which
reflectors, looking glasses, or mirrors have hitherto been ordinarily applied,
such as, for instance, wall or door panelling for ships' and other saloons, and
for insertion in chefloniers, sideboards, tables, and other cabinet articles and
furniture, and for decorating shop fronts, omnibuses, and other vehicles, and
for an endless variety of other purposes of embellishment or decoration;
and, besides being highly ornamental, the reflective powers of the mirrors or
plates when thus frosted, cut, and silvered are thereby greatly increased or
multiplied; and they are thus rendered particularly applicable for the lighting,
by reflection, of dark rooms, corridors, ships' saloons, and other places requiring
artificial illumination.
In carrying out this Invention the plates of glass are firstly to be roughed,
frosted, or obscured by any of the ordinary well known means to the required
pattern or design. Certain parts of the design are then to be cut or carved
in the glass by the usual means of cutting or carving glass, and such parts of
the design are then to be polished or left unpolished according to taste, or to
the purposes for which the mirror or glass is to be eventually applied.. The
whole is then to be silvered by the ordinary process, this silvering to be (by
preference) on the side which has been ornamented as above described, so
that the exterior may present a. perfectly smooth and even surface to the
touch, when such plates have been cut upon one side only, but if preferred,
for any particular purpose, the mirror or glass plate may be silvered on the
plane side, leaving the design or pattern on the exterior surface.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention of "An
Improvement in Looking Glasses and Mirrors," together with the manner in
which the same is to be or may be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I claim as my Invontion, producing a border or other pattern

page_text: or design on mirrors or plates of glass by roughing, frosting, or obscuring, and
cutting, carving, and polishing; and afterwards silvering such plates in the
manner and for the purposes above particularly set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Wheeldon, have hereunto set
my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
MATTHEW WHEELDON. (L.S.)