CERTAIN NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR OR METHODS OF SCULPTURING, CUTTING, SHAPING, MOULDING, AND OTHERWISE FIGURING AND WORKING MARBLE, STONE, ALABASTER, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES SUITABLE FOR SCULPTURE; AND FOR TAKING COPIES OF THE WORKS PRODUCED THEREBY, OR OF SIMILAR COPIES PRODUCED BY THE ORDINARY MEANS; AND ALSO AN IMPROVED PROCESS OR METHOD OF TAKING CASTS OF THE LIVING HUMAN FACE OR FIGURE, OR OTHER FORMS
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANGUS ROBERTSON, of No. 6, Peterborough Court, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late Majesty William the Fourth, by His Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date the Sixth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, and in the seventh year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
His especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
William Angus Robertson, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Angus Robertson, 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 also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad
the Invention of "CERTAIN NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR OR METHODS OF
SCULPTURING, CUTTING, SHAPING, MOULDING, AND OTHERWISE FIGURING AND WORKING
MARBLE, STONE, ALABASTER, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES SUITABLE FOR SCULPTURE; AND
FOR TAKING COPIES OF THE WORKS PRODUCED THEREBY, OR OF SIMILAR COPIES
PRODUCED BY THE ORDINARY MEANS; AND ALSO AN IMPROVED PROCESS OR METHOD OF
TAKING CASTS OF THE LIVING HUMAN FACE OR FIGURE, OR OTHER FORMS," the
same being communicated to me by Monsieur Jean Emiliani Pelvey, of Paris,
Juris Consult, and is called after him the Pelvey Machinery or Machines ;

page_text: in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William
Angus Robertson, should cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and of the manner in which the same is to be performed, to
be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said 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
William Angus Robertson, do hereby declare, first, that the nature of the said
new and improved machinery for or methods of sculpturing, cutting, shaping,
moulding, and otherwise figuring and working marble, stone, alabaster, and
other substances suitable for sculpture, and the manner in which the same
are to be performed, as communicated to me by the said Monsieur Jean
Emiliani Pelvey, are described and shewn in the Drawings hereunto annexed,
numbered from 1 to 15 inclusive; in which Drawings I have colored the
parts that are in wood, light brown; those that are in iron or steel, blue;
and those that are in brass, yellow. The Drawing No. 1 represents the
machinery and methods employed to reproduce and execute with mathematical
precision in marble, stone, or other suitable material, the class of sculptures
called base-reliefs or basso-relievos, in the same proportions as the originals.
A bench or framework, indicated by the letters and numbers 29 A, 29 B,
29 C, 29 D, 29 E, 29 F, and 29 G, is surmounted by two circular metal
platforms 41 and 42. On the platform 41 is placed the original figure or
relief which is to be copied and reproduced, and on 42 the block of marble
or other suitable material in which the copy is to be made, both being secured
to their respective platforms by clamps 43, with which they are provided, and
these clamps may be moved at pleasure, either forwards or backwards, by
means of the endless screws s, 5, 8, s. The two platforms 41 and 42 turn
each upon a separate axis, but by means of the connecting wheelwork 36
and chain 40, arranged according to the well-known system of Vancauson,
they turn always together with the greatest corresponding exactness. The
chain 40 is tightened or released at pleasure by means of the compensating
guide wheel marked 38, which carries on its butt end a small brass pulley 39,
over which the chain passes, and is moved to and fro.and fixed in any position
required by the regulating screw 37; each of the two axes just described passes
at first through a metal collar composed of two parts, which are secured to the
platform by screws and nuts, and resemble in point of form Figure 15 of the
Drawing No. 10, and terminates in sockets marked 33, where it is fixed above
and beneath by the capped screws 34. The bench or frame 29 A, 29 B, &c.

page_text: is suspended from two pins 31, which are inserted in another or outer frame
30 A, 30 B, 30 C, 30 D, 30 E, 30 F, the one to the right and the other to the
left, so that the whole of the framework 29 A, 29 B, &c. swings simultaneously
with its platforms on the said pins, and allows either the original figure or copy
to be turned over and the tracers and cutters, to be hereafter described, to
be applied to the sides thereof. The swing frame 29 A, &c. can be secured
in any desired position by means of the two half circles 32, which have
holes drilled in them at regular distances for the reception of the regulating
screws 49, one of which screws only is seen (towards the left) in the Drawing
No: 1.
I proceed now to describe the mechanism or means by which all the neces-
sary movements are given to the tools employed to copy and reproduce the
base-reliefs, or basso-relievos. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1 D, is a large square
chase, each of whose four sides is furnished on the inside with two tenons
A and B, as separately represented on a larger scale in the Drawing 6, Fig. 1.
3 A, 3 B, 3 C, and 3 D, are four pieces of the form separately represented by
Fig. 3, in the Drawing No. 4, which are placed within the tenons A and B,
and secured there by screws which pass through the tenons into the said pieces.
Four other similar pieces, but of smaller size, marked, 4 A, 4 B, 4 C, 4 D,
(one of which is shewn separately in the Drawing No. 4, Fig. 3, are placed
within 3 A, 3 B, &c. and secured there by screws in the same way as 3 A,
3 B, &c. Inside of each of the four frames last mentioned is inserted a chase
marked 2 A and 2 B, furnished with 4 tenons marked X, as shewn separately in
Fig. 2 of the Drawing No. 6, which chase is also kept in its place by screws
in the same manner as the two pieces last before described, and allows of a
horizontal, or, more properly speaking, reciprocating movement. Across the
middle of this chase there is placed a bar numbered 8, which turns upon the
two pins; at its right and left extremities 5 and 6 are two arms which
turn upon that cross piece, and are secured thereto above and below by four
screws, two on the right and two on the left. To these two arms there are
also adapted, one in front and the other behind, two other cross pieces, marked
7 and 9, which turn also at the same time upon eight other pins with
which the said arms are provided, four on the right hand and four on the left.
On the back of the cross piece numbered 9, there is affixed by a screw a small
oblong box for holding weights to counterbalance any load which may be
placed in front of the arms 5 and 6. By means of these different arrangements
the two arms carry the tools horizontally from right to left, or from left to
right, while by means of the two pins, which hold the cross piece 8, a vertical
or up-and-down movement is obtained.

page_text: It is to be observed,, in respect to all the parts of the machinery before
described, that whenever pins or screws are spoken of, or represented as fixed
in wood, there are small metal sockets provided for the reception of the said
pins & screws. The arm No. 5 is that to which are affixed, by screws, the two
sculpturing tools; on one side the spring roughing chisel, represented sepa-
rately, and of the full size on the Drawing 5, Fig. 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25,
which serves to cut out the marble, stone, or other substance subjected to its
operation; and on the other side the piece marked 20, represented separately
aud of the full size in the Drawing No. 9, Fig. 20, which is furnished with
two cushions of brass or pewter at the points marked, . These cushions
may be screwed up or unscrewed at pleasure by means of the regulating
screws marked Y, Y. In the space between the two cushions there is intro-
duced an arbor marked 12, which is kept at any desired height in relation to
the upper cushion by the moveable ring marked K, and the regulating screw
with which that ring is provided. The said arbor is perforated to a small
depth at its lower end for the reception of the dressing tools, which are secured
there by means of the two regulating screws Q, by the turning of which with
the arbor the pieces cut away are removed. This arbor is put in motion by
the cord or chain which proceeds from the principal wheel marked 47, passes
over the double pulley 15 and 16, afterwards upon that marked 17, then upon
that marked 14, next upon that marked 13, and lastly, upon the pulley
(of the spring roughing hammer) marked 22, when that hammer is meant to
be employed, or upon that (of the arbor) marked 18, when working with the
dressing tools. The pulley which turns the arbor is fixed upon it by means
of the small key represented separately in the Drawing No. 9, Fig. 1. The
piece marked 11, to which are adapted the pullies 13 and 14, serves (as may
be seen from an inspection of the Drawing No. 1,) as a conductor to the cord
or chain; it is composed of three parts, the first of which parts marked L,
fixed by screws upon the arm marked 5, is connected with that marked m
by an iron hinge screwed to it; the second part is connected with the third
marked n by a similar hinge; and, the third is connected with the back of
the part marked 1 A of the large chase, by a moveable hook which permits
the said conductor to follow every movement of the arms 5 and 6 without
resistance, or entanglement of the cord or chain. Four different sorts of
dressing tools are used, according to the progress of the work, which tools
are represented of the full size in the Drawing No. 5, Fig. 44. To the arm
marked 6, are adapted, by means of nuts and screws, the two parallel pieces
of iron marked 26, and shewn separately of the full size in the Drawing
marked 5, Fig. 35.
In the dowels of these pieces are fixed, by regulating

page_text: screws, two round immoveable arbors, which are partly perforated at their
lower ends. Into these arbors are inserted two guides which are secured also
by means of regulating screws, which guides are of the same shape and size as
the tools worked with, and are always placed parallel thereto, one correspond-
ing to the spring roughing chisel, and the other to the dressing chisels, and
each receiving, simultaneously with its corresponding tool, a movement of the
same sort, and in the same direction. The workman places himself in front of
the machine with his right hand on the side of the guides, and his left on the
side of the working tools. The different movements are easily obtained, and
follow always the hand of the workman who gives the impulse, that is to say,
he can direct and conduct the tool where he likes, the machine being so con-
structed as to accommodate itself to every imaginable variety of movement.
Handles can be adapted to the arms of the machine for the greater con-
venience of the workman who has to manage it. The spring roughing chisel
before referred to, and which is indicated in the general plan No. 1, by the
numbers 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, is represented separately and of the full size
in the Drawing No. 5, the same figures being used to denote the same parts
in both Drawings. The part marked 21 is an iron plate, which is provided
with two channels marked A and B, in which are inserted, according to
circumstances, either the pair of small pointed chisels marked 25, or the pair
of small chisels with six teeth, each marked 25%. These chisels, which are
placed one above the other, are of perfectly similar forms and dimensions, and
fixed in the said channels by their heel taps, marked O; when they are set in
motion, they having an alternating action upon the block or other material
subjected to their operation. In the butt end of each of the said chisels there
is an orifice cut deep enough to receive separately the ends of two steel springs
marked C, of the same size and strength, the other two ends of which fit
also separately into two holes sunk for that purpose in the head of the T piece
marked D, and between the two eyes thereof; the form of which T piece will be
better understood by reference to the separate representation of it, Figure 22
of the Drawing No. 15. This T piece is fixed to the plate 21 by three
screws, one through the orifice in the tail part, and the other two through the
two eye holes, which eye holes are of such width as to allow the head piece to
move backwards and forwards and thus increase or: diminish; as occasion may
require, the force and elasticity of the springs. The piece marked 24 is an
escapement wheel, armed with six teeth, rounded off, and pointing backwards,
three of which face and act towards the right only, and the three others towards
the left only. To shew more clearly the position of these teeth and their alter-
nate action from right to left, and how their action influences that of the chisels,

page_text: I have marked the right-hand teeth, or the Drawing No. 5, by the letter A, and
the left-hand ones by the letter B. When the wheel turns, the effect of these
teeth is to lift and drop alternately by the heels the chisels corresponding to
them, that is to say, the right-hand teeth lifting and dropping the right-hand
chisels, and the left-hand teeth the left-hand chisels. The force and celerity
with which the hammers and escapement operate will of course be in propor
tion to the force of the springs and the rapidity of the rotation. The said
escapement wheel is fixed to the plate 21 by a small steel arbor, which is of a.
square form where it passes through the escapement wheel, and elsewhere of a
round form; at one end it turns in a hole in the said plate 21, the other end
has a cleft made in it to allow of the large brass wheel marked 22 passing
through the said cleft; and the said arbor passes out at top through a T hole
sunk for that purpose in the upper plate, which extends over the whole of the
parts of which the spring roughing hammer is composed, and is secured
at its two ends by nuts and screws to the plate 21. The said arbor is per-
forated to a depth sufficient to admit a small piston marked H, of the form
represented in the Drawing No. 15, Fig. 21. The two arms of this piston.
extend to the right and to the left through the cleft in the end of the arbor,
and the teeth of the small cog wheel fixed upon the centre of the wheel
marked 22, as more particularly shewn in Figure 19 of the Drawing
No. 15. The head of this piston on passing through the hole of the plate 23
is caught on one side by the forked end of the small spring marked E, which
is affixed to the plate by two screws, and on the other side by the forked
end of the balance lever marked F, attached to the said plate at the place
indicated by the letter F. The action of the spring E, being repulsive in
respect of the piston, tends to fix the two branches of the piston in the cog
wheel before described, and then to fix invariably the wheel 22, upon the
arbor, with which, and the escapement wheel, it is then forced to turn; on the
other hand, the action of the balance lever F being impulsive (if the tail is
pressed down or kept down by the small hook marked U, its effect is to
disengage from the cog wheel the arms of the piston, when the escapement
wheel and arbor cease to rotate, the wheel 22 becomes free and turns by itself
upon the said arbor; and the play of the chisels ceases without its being neces-
sary to stop the large moving wheel marked 47 in the general plan, Number 1.
When it is desired to set the chisels again to work, all that is necessary is to
set free the tail of the balance lever, when the whole machinery is once more
in motion.
And I declare that when it is desired to make copies of bas-reliefs on
a smaller or larger scale than the originals, the said Monsieur Pelvey makes

page_text: use of a machine differing in the respects following, from the last herein-
before described, that is to say:-The machine he employs for this purpose
is represented in the Drawing Number 2. The piece marked 1 forms a
part of the bench or framework, upon which are placed four pairs of collars
of brass or cast iron, in which turn the arbors, the ends of which rest in the
screw sockets 8 and 10, and are surmounted by the metal platforms marked
3 and 4, which are each furnished with four clamps and endless screws of the
same form and properties as those marked 43 in the plan of the preceding
machine. The said platforms are also furnished with the wheelwork marked
5, fixed upon their arbors, turning always together with the most exact
precision by means of the Vancauson chain marked 6, adapted to the said
wheelwork; the tension of this chain may be effected if necessary by means of
a compensating guide pulley, as in the machine first herein-before described..
The platform marked 3 remains constantly in the position in which it is shewn,
and ought to be at least one-third larger than the other, and it is upon this the
bas-relief is placed which it is desired to copy or reproduce on a diminished
scale. The platform marked 4, on which is to be placed the marble or other
material in which the copy is to be made, is represented in the Drawing in the
required position for producing copies on one-half the scale of the original ;
when it is desired. to carry the reduction to three-fourths, the platform is
placed in the collar marked 15, and the lower end of the arbor of the platform
in the screw socket marked 7; if to one-third, it is placed in the collars marked.
15, but upon the screw socket marked 9, which, as well as the other screw sockets,
is secured by capped screws above and below, marked figure 11. The piece
marked 1 with all connected with it rests upon two pivots placed at its outer
edges. One of these, marked 13, is that which enables it to be turned over at
pleasure according as the works require to be wrought more or less upon the
sides, the tools remaining always in the same perpendicular position; when
the required angle of inclination has been given to it, it is fixed there by means
of a half circle of iron marked 14, with holes drilled in it at regular distances,
into any one of which the regulating screw marked 12, the end of which is
steel pointed, may be inserted. The part marked 2 is the framework which
supports the piece marked 1, with its different appendages. The upright
marked 16, with the horizontal and other pieces connected with it also marked
16, turns upon two screws, one at top and the other at the bottom, which
screws take into two small brass sockets, one of which is seen in the Drawing
No. 2, and is there indicated by the number 26. To the end of the longest
projecting piece marked 16, is affixed a wheel marked 18, which runs on a
small circular railway placed on the tressle 132.
The right arm marked 23

page_text: and the principal. cross pièce marked 20 never change their places, whatever
may be the degree of reduction required, but when a copy on a quarto scale is
wanted, the left arm 24 is replaced by that marked 40 in the Drawing Number 7,
and the two cross pieces 21 and 22 by two similar shaped but larger pieces
marked 28 in the same Drawing. If, again, it is desired to obtain a copy of
one-third the dimensions of the original, the left arm 24 is replaced by that
represented by figure 37 in the Drawing No. 8, and the two cross pieces 21
and 22 are replaced by two pieces of the form represented by figure 39, in
the Drawing Number 7. Each of the pieces, figures 24 and 40 of the Drawing,
Number 7, and 37, Number 8, should be furnished with the same iron work-
and screws as are represented in figures 31 and 27 of the Drawing Number 2.
The large cross piece 20 is supported on that marked 16, by means of two
iron uprights with screws at their extremities, on which screws the said cross
piece 20 turns, giving thereby to the working tools a circular movement from
top to bottom, and vice versa. The two screws are, as it were, the axis of this
circular movement, that upon the right, which is the only one seen in the
Drawing, is marked 25. The screws marked 27, which, like those herein-
before described, take into brass sockets, furnish the means of obtaining a
movement from right to left, or from left to right, which makes up the com-
plement of all possible movements. The tools consist of dressing chisels,
which fit into the perforated part of the arbor 30, and are secured there by
regulating screws.. The arbor 80 turns in cushions of brass or pewter, which
are adjusted to the piece 31, and can be screwed up or unscrewed at pleasure,
by means of the regulating screws with which they are furnished. The said
arbor is also kept at the proper length in respect of the upper cushion, by means
of a ring and screw, and has a rotary movement given to it by the cord or chain,
which, proceeding from the moving wheel 34, passes on to the double pulley
33, then upon that marked .32, next upon 28, and finally over the wheel 29,
which is attached to the arbor by means of a small key, represented in Figure 1
of the Drawing, No. 9, and causes the arbor to turn. The guide is not sharp
and cutting like the dressing tool, but differs from it in thickness in the same
ratio as the copy to be made differs from the original. This guide fits into
the perforation of the arbor marked 36, where it is secured by means of a
regulating screw, and the said arbor 36 is fixed at pleasure in the dowels of
the iron piece 35, by means of three small regulating screws. Tools, as well
as guides, of different dimensions and descriptions, are used, according as the
progress of the work or other circumstances may suggest to be expedient.
Some of the more usual forms are [represented by the figures 44, in the
Drawing No. 5.
If necessary, a spring chisel of proportional strength may be

page_text: adapted to the machine, of the same description as that represented in the
Drawing No. 5, Figure 21, and separately in the Drawing No. 14.
For the better understanding of the details of this machine I refer to the
description herein-before contained of that represented in the Drawing No. 1, so
far as they are similar to or analogous the one to the other.
I would only
further observe that the parts marked 1, 2, 16, 23, 37, of the machine last
herein-before described are represented separately in the Drawing No. 8, and
the parts marked 133, 20, 21, 22, 24, 38, 39, and .40, separately in the Drawing
No. 7, the part 12 separately in the Drawing No. 9, and the parts 3, 4, 5, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 26, 27, 29, separately in the Drawing No. 10.
And I declare that when it is desired to copy or reproduce in marble or any
other suitable material in alto-relievo, and also to produce fac-similes of such
original figures, the machine employed by Monsieur Pelvey is constructed and
worked in the manner represented and indicated by the Drawing No. 3. The
parts marked 29 form a bench or table, upon which are placed two metal
platforms, marked 36, which turn together with the most exact precision
by means of the wheelwork placed on, their respective arbors 31, and of
the iron chain by which they are connected, according to the system of
Vancauson, which chain is tightened at pleasure by means of the compensating
guide pulley marked 34, and kept in any required position by the regulating
screw 35. These arbors 31 turn at bottom in cast-iron sockets marked 30,
which are secured to their places by nuts and screws, and have each at top a
pair of collars of brass or cast iron, which are also made fast by nuts and
screws to the bench. The form of these collars is represented separately by
Figure 15 of the Drawing No. 10, but their dimensions must of course be always
proportional to the thickness of the arbors. Figure 39 represents an original
statue which is intended to be copied, placed in the position it ought to occupy
for that purpose; and Figure 40, the block of marble or other suitable material
in which the copy is to be made by means of the tools employed. Figure 1, 1,
are two wooden uprights resting at bottom on the floor or ground, fixed at top
either to flooring or to some strong cross beam overhead and kept apart (so
that their parallelism shall be preserved) by means of the two wooden cross bars
marked 2, 2. These uprights are, as will be seen from the Drawing, intended
to support, by means of the screws with which they are furnished, the whole
of the pieces of which the remainder of this machine consists. The parts
marked 6, 6, represent a swing frame or chase, the two extremities of which
are weighted equally; this frame swings upon the two pins marked 41, which
screw into brass sockets sunk in the frame itself, and give to the arms to be
herein-after mentioned a vertical or up-and-down movement. Figure 5 repre-

page_text: sents another chase which is suspended in a vertical position, which turns
upon two screws marked 42, which connect it with the swing frame 66, and
are inserted in brass sockets sunk therein, by the assistance of which vertical
chase a horizontal or reciprocating motion is obtained, as is herein-after more
fully explained. The pieces or chases indicated by the Figures 3 and 4, turn
upon the screws 43, 48, and 49, (of which there are counterparts on the sides
opposite) and are merely intended to give solidity to the chase 5, and greater
exactness of its oscillations, moving as that chase moves, whether forwards or
backwards, or up and down. The various parts in cast iron, steel, or copper,
indicated by the Figures 11, 12, 13, 14, &c. form the apparatus in which are
fixed the working tools of the machine. Figure 12 represents a cast-iron
perforated cross bar, which is supported by its extremities between the two
ends of the chase, Figure 5, and turns upon screws on the right hand and on the
left (only one of which screws is seen in the Drawing Number 3, where it is
marked 44), and thus allows the arms to be moved forward or pulled back,
according as the tools which they carry are required to be more or less per-
pendicular or horizontal. Figure 14, 14, are the two arms before alluded to,
which are of cast iron and of equal length and dimensions; they are sus-
pended from the cross bar aforesaid (Figure 12) by means of four screws,
two of which only, being those in front, are seen in the Drawing and "marked
45, which admits of the lower extremities being moved from right to left and
from left to right. Figure 13 is a second cross piece, also of cast iron, and
perforated and secured to the sides of the arms (14) by means of four
screws (46) upon which it turns from right to left and from left to right.
The said two cross bars, Figure 12 and 13, are represented of their full size,
in the Drawing Number 13, Figure 12, 13, and 14. Figure 11 is a circular
iron plate, which is affixed to the centre of the cross piece 12, and turns
with it; at top it passes within the cleft of an inverted crutch 37, which
is secured to the bottom of a cross piece or stay of the chase 5; this circular
iron plate is pierced with holes all round its circumference, so that whether the
arms (14, 14,) suspended from the cross bar 12, are moved forwards or back-
wards, they can be readily secured for a time in any desired position, by
inserting a pin through the holes made for the purpose in the cheeks of the
inverted crutch 37, and passing the same intermediately through one or other
of the holes in the circumference of the circular plate (Figure 11). To that
arm which, looking at the machine as represented in the Drawing Number 3, is
the right of the two arms (14, 14), and to the external side of that right arm,
there is affixed with nuts and screws a spring roughing chisel with a pair of
smaller chisels (Figures 15, 17, and 19), which are represented of the full

page_text: size, and of their proper forms in l'igure 15, 17, and 19 of the Drawing Number
14. The spring chisel last mentioned serves merely to hew out in rough,
after which it is necessary to employ a dressing tool, which is inserted in
the perforated part of the round arbor, which is represented of the full size in
Figure 51 of the Drawing Number 14, and secured there by means of two regu-
lating screws. The said arbor passes and turns between two cushions of brass
or pewter screwed to and fitted in the cast iron frame, represented. of its full
size by Figure 50 of the Drawing Number 14. The arbor (51) is kept in its
proper position in regard to the cushions by an iron ring furnished with a
regulating screw, as in the case of the two other machines herein-before
described. The arm plate is fitted to the side of the said spring chisel on the
lateral interior part of the right arm 14, with nuts and screws. The left of
the two arms (14), being that which is opposite to the original figure intended
to be copied (39), has affixed to it, by means of nuts and screws, two arm
plates marked 16, one of which is represented of the full size in Figure 16 of
the Drawing Number 14. In and through the dowels of these arm plates
are fixed two round immoveable arbors, in which arbors there are perforations
made for the reception of two guides of the same form and dimensions as the
working tools.
These guides are always placed parallel to the tools, one
parallel to the roughing tool, and the other to the dressing chisel, and
each has the same sort of movement given to it as is given to its cor-
responding or parallel tool. Several sorts of dressing tools, as also guides
of different thicknesses and sizes, are made use of, according to the pro-
gress of the work.
Some of the principal of these are shewn at 44 in
the Drawing Number 5. The workman places himself between the two
principal parts of the machine, with his face turned towards the platforms
on which are placed the original statue and the copy; his left hand upon
the right arm of the machine, and his right hand upon the left. The
different movements are easily obtained and follow always the hand of the
workman, that is to say, he can direct each tool and guide as he pleases.
Figure 8 is composed of two pieces of wood, connected by iron hinges which
turn in any direction; this double piece is called the conductor, and serves
to conduct the cord or chain, Figure 50, in whatever direction the wheels,
Figure 18 and 19, take, either by passing over the one or the other. It will
also be obvious that the cord or chain 50 receives motion from the principal
noving wheel, Figure 27, passes afterwards upon Figure 21; then upon
Figures 20, 24, and 25, and next upon 19 if it is the spring roughing chisel
which is to be brought into play, or upon the wheel 18 if it is the dressing
tool which is to be used. Figure 26 is a small guide pulley at the side of the

page_text: cord or chain, to keep it in its proper position. The conductor, Figure 8,
connected at one extremity to the piece of wood, Figure 9, which turns upon
the two screws 47, and at the other extremity to the small arbor of the pulley,
Figure 24.. The piece, Figure 7, is a small moveable box, which is suspended
by two iron hooks 38, and turns upon two iron cramps at the back extremity
of the swing frame, Figure 6. The said box is intended to receive weights
for the purpose of balancing the weight of the other end of the swing frame 6.
Figure 10 is a weight which serves to tighten the movement of the pieces 4
and 3, to which last is fixed the wooden support marked 10 A, from which it
is suspended by hooks. The Figures 6, 8, 10 A, and 29, are all separately
represented in the Drawing 11; Fig. 3, 4, 5, and 7, separately in the Draw-
ing Number 12; and Figures 12, 13, and 14, separately in the Drawing
Number 13:
And now having described three varieties or modifications of the said
improved machinery, by the first of which are produced copies of bas-reliefs
of the same dimensions as the originals; by the second, bas-reliefs on a reduced
scale; and by the third, copies of sculptures in alto-relievo, I declare that the
first of these may be made to produce two copies instead of one at the same
time, by having an additional arm and platform, with their respective acces
sories, and might also, without any alteration, be made to produce sculptures
in alto relievo by merely laying the statue or other original which is to be
copied, and the block of marble or other material in which the copy is to
be made, horizontally upon their respective platforms.
I declare also, that the second of these machines may, in like manner, le
made to produce two reduced copies instead of one at the same time, by
having a third arm and a third platform, with their respective accessories.
I declare further, that the said second machine may be made to produce
copies of bas-reliefs or alto-relievos on a larger scale than the originals, by so
transposing the tools and their accessories that the work originally done on
the left hand shall then be done on the right, and by placing the block of
marble or other material in which the copy is to be made on the platform on
the right, and the original on the platform on the left.
I declare also, that two copies may be produced at, the same time, one larger
than the original and the other smaller, by placing the original on the centro
of the three platforms, which are employed when two copies have to be made
I declare likewise that the third of the said machines may be made to
produce two copies at the same time of one original, by similar additions to
those before pointed out, as requisite for the purpose of such duplication in
the case of the first of the said machines.

page_text: And generally, 1 declare that by the sant machines, one or other of them,
every sort of sculpture, whether alto-relievo, basso-relievo, or intaglios, may be
copied and reproduced with much greater celerity than by any means here-
tofore in use, and with such mathematical precision that the copies shall be
identical with the originals, either of the same dimensions as the originals or
larger or smaller than the originals; and that the said copies may be made
either in marble, stone, alabaster, ivory, wood, or any other material suitable
for sculpture.
To each of the Drawings hereunto annexed and before described (excepting
only those in which parts of the machines are represented of their full size),
there is affixed a scale by which the proportional dimensions of the different
parts may be ascertained; each machine may be constructed on different
scales according to the size of the originals which are to be copied, or to the
degree in which the copies are to be reduced.
It now only remains that I should describe the said Monsieur Pelvey's
improved process or method of taking casts of the human face or figure or
other forms. The person of whom the cast is to be taken must be placed in
the most convenient position for the operation, such as holding his head erect
or throwing it backwards, or by laying down, keeping always his eyes open;
the hair and any other hairy parts, such as the beard, whiskers, and eyelashes,
are first done over with a pomade or some greasy substance to preserve them
from the action of the plaster; for greater security the hair may be also
covered with gauze; all the parts of the face of which a cast is to be
taken are then smeared over with oil by means of a small camel hair or other
brush; the plaster is then spread lightly over the parts which have been oiled
by means of a small brush, which must be used cautiously, yet quickly, and
care must be taken not to introduce any of the plaster into the orbits of the
eyes; that the respiration of the person subjected to the operation may be left
uninterrupted, no plaister must be put on the nostrils, and should this pre-
caution be insufficient a passage for the air may be left opposite the mouth.
As soon as the plaster has acquired a proper hardness, which it will do in a
very short time, the mask is carefully loosened and removed; and finally, after
washing the inside of the mould with soap and water it receives a coating of
oil, when the plaster is run into it necessary to produce from the mask the
figure in relief.
And having now described the nature of the said improved machinery,
methods, and processes, I declare that I do not claim as new any of the parts
of the said machinery as new in themselves (with the exception of the spring
roughing chisel), but that I claim as new the manner in which they are

page_text: combined, applied, and used in the different machines herein-before described,
and also as new the said spring roughing chisel.
I declare also that each of the said machines admit of arrangements and
applications of their parts different from those represented in the annexed
Drawings, and herein-before described, and of the said parts being also made
of various other dimensions; but that I claim as included in the said patented
improvements every modification of the said machines or machinery and every
manner of using the same, which shall involve no material departure from the
principle of the said Invention.
And such the said Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief
entirely new and never before used within that part of Her Majesty's United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of
Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be the
Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this the said Specifi
cation doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve or disguise with
the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;
wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to
the said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Angus Robertson, have hereunto
set my hand seal, this Sixth day of November, in the first year of the
reign of our Sovereign Lady Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of
the Faith, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-seven