IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING AND COLOURING PHOTOGRAPHIC. PICTURES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Oliver Sarony, of Scarborough, in the County of
York, Photographic Artist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING AND COLOURING PHOTOGRAPHIC. PICTURES."
Sealed the 24th December 1858, and dated the 3rd July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Oliver Sarony at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
3rd July 1858.
I, 'OLIVER SARONY, of Scarborough, in the County of York, Photographic
Artist, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING AND COLOURING PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES," to be as follows:-
The object of my process is to give to the artist's work upon paper the
softness, delicacy, and transparency which the same work would present
upon ivory, by the application of a medium which penetrates the paper,
destroys its opacity, and allows the artist's work to appear floating within
the substance of the paper. This appearance is obtained by the following
method:-The paper on which the photograph has been taken is stretched
on a frame having a moveable panel, so that the back of the photographi
picture may be uncovered when required without unstretching. The photo-
graph-is then colored in the ordinary way with water colors on the front side
until the picture is worked up to the required finish; the panel at the back is

page_text: removed, the photograph picture is then placed face downwards upon a hot
metal plate, the back is then, by a brush, covered all over with melted
bees'-wax until the paper is perfectly saturated and the wax appears at the
other side. To prevent any injury to the picture from contact with the hot
metal plate, a sheet of clean paper may be interposed.
The photograph picture will present a finished appearance, hardly to be
distinguishable from au ivory painting; should it be found necessary to put
a few finishing touches either in transparent or body colour, a little ox gall,
soap, or other substance to remove the greasy surface from the wax will
require to be used with the color, or before it is applied, and these after-
touches may be sunk into the wax by exposing the picture to a heat sufficient
to melt the wax surface.
1 can also produce a similar effect by using oil, varnish, or gum to give
a semi-transparency to the paper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Oliver Sarony in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OLIVER
SARONY, of Scarborough, in the County of York, Photographic Artist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Oliver Sarony, Her special licence that I, the said Oliver Sarony,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Oliver Sarony, 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
TREATING AND COLORING PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Oliver Sarony, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under-my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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

page_text: 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 Oliver Sarony, 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
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The object of my process is to give to the artist's work upon paper the
softness, delicacy, and transparency which the same work would present
upon ivory by the application of a medium which penetrates the paper,
destroys its opacity, and allows the artist's work to appear floating within
the substance of the paper. This appearance is obtained by the following
method: The paper on which the photograph has been taken is stretched
on a frame having a moveable panel, so that the back of the photograph
picture may be uncovered when required without unstretching.
The photograph is then colored in the ordinary way with water colors on
the front side, until the picture is worked up to the required finish; the panel
at the back is removed, the photograph picture is then placed face down-
wards upon a hot metal plate, the back is then, by a brush, covered all over
with melted bees'-wax until the paper is perfectly saturated, and the wax
appears at the other side. To prevent any injury to the picture from contact
with the hot metal plate, a sheet of clean paper may be interposed. I
prefer putting on the wax with a brush, as above stated,although the ordinary
mode used by photographers will do, that is, by laying the wax on the paper
and melting it by passing a hot plate of iron over it.
The photograph picture may now be mounted like any piece of ivory upon
a light or cream-colored ground of paper, enamel, or other substance, or a
panel of a light or cream shade may be introduced into the frame upon which
the photograph picture is already stretched; the tint I prefer for such back-
ground is a deep cream colour, as giving the nearest resemblance to ivory.
The photograph picture will present a finished appearance, hardly to be
distinguishable from an ivory painting; should it be found necessary to
put a few finishing touches, either in transparent or body colour, a little
ox gall, soap, or other substance to remove the greasy surface from the wax,
will require to be used with the color or before it is applied, and these after-
touches may be sunk into the wax hy exposing the picture to a heat
sufficient to melt the wax surface.
I can also produce a similar effect by using oil, varnish, or gum, to give a
semitransparency to the paper, and can also reverse the process by applying
such mediums to the paper before coloring, but the method and means above

page_text: described are such as I prefer to use for the purpose of producing the desired
effect, videlicet, "to imitate paintings upon ivory," coloured photographs
subjected to my process have also this advantage, that the chemicals of the
photograph, as well as the water colours, are protected from the action of
moisture and the atmosphere by being so thoroughly imbedded in wax.
In printing the photographs for this process, care must be taken that
the paper is perfectly pure and free from marks or specks, both within and
on either surface of the paper; such specks at least should be kept in the
printing so as not to come on any part of the picture which is to be light
in color, any such mark or speck which is visible to the eye, on looking
through the paper, will become visible upon the front surface immediately
on being waxed and mounted; the only method then of hiding the defect
is to apply a little body colour of the required tint.
In witness whereof, I, the said Oliver Sarony, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
RICH JOHN GILL.
OLIVER SARONY. (L.S.)