An Improvement or Improvements in the Production of Coloured Photographs.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th July, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 16th May, 1898-Accepted, 25th June, 1898
DIONAL DIMOITICATION.
An Improvement or Improvements in the Production of Coloured
Photographs.
We, GEORGE JOSEPHI SERSHALL, of No. 62, Soho Hill, Handsworth, in the County
of Stafford, Artist, and JOSEPH HOWARD KIRK, of Jessamine Villa, Orchard Road,
Erdington, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists of an improvement or improvements in an invention for
which Letters Patent were granted to one of us namely George Joseph Sershall
dated the fifth day of February 1897 No. 3121; and our invention has for its
object to expedite and thereby to economise the production of coloured photographs
substantially of the kind described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent.
In order that our invention may be the more readily understood we remark that
the said patented invention consists essentially in the production on a transparent
or semi-transparent film by the action of light of a positive photograph which is
coloured by the application to its back of a paper or other backing on which has
been printed the colours necessary to make the positive photograph, when viewed
in front, have approximately the colour or colours of the object or objects frori
which the photograph was taken.
In producing a coloured photograph according to our invention we proceed as
follows. From a photograph of the object or objects we prepare in the manner
well known and commonly practised a colloid printing film from which we print
by means of the printing ink and printing press ordinarily employed in the collo-.
type process impressions of the said positive photograph. The positive prints are
produced on a film of celluloid or other transparent or semi-transparent film. The
process of collotype printing being well known we do not think it necessary to
describe the same. We will call the print obtained by the collotype printing
process the positive photograph as it is a fac-simile of the positive obtained by the
action of light.
We take traced outlines from the positive photograph and transfer the said out-
lines to lithographic stones the number of stones employed being equal to the
numbers of colours necessary to give the required colouring to the transparent
positive photograph.
We print preferably on paper from the said lithographic stones by means of
coloured printing inks superposed upon one another in the way practised in
chromolithography, a compound coloured impression resembling the colours which
require to be added to the positive print to give it approximately the colours of
the object or objects from which the photograph has been taken.
This colour print
is affixed to the positive photograph by being cemented thereto by gelatine or
other adhesive matter, the surface of the celluloid on which the positive photo-
graph is printed and that of the paper on which the colours are printed being
presented to each other.
Or the colour printing may be effected on that side of the celluloid film on which

page_text: the collotype positive photograph has been printed. In this case we protect the
positive photograph by a coating of the varnish known in commerce as "glasin" or
with mastic or other colourless varnish the said coating of varnish being allowed
to dry before printing the colours upon it.
The details of the methods by which the tracings for the production of the colour
print are made together with the details of the colour printing process differ in
no essential respect from the processes practised in chromolithography and we
therefore do not think it necessary to describe the same.
An Improvement or Improvements in the Production of Coloured
Photographs.
We, GEORGE JOSEPHI SERSHALL, of No. 62, Solo Hill, Handsworth, in the County
of Stafford, Artist, and JOSEPH HOWARD KIRK, of Jessamine Villa, Orchard Road,
Erdington, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention consists of an improvement or improvements in an invention for
which Letters Patent were granted to one of us namely George Joseph Sershall,
dated the fifth day of February 1897 No. 3121; and our invention has for its
object to expedite and thereby to economise the production of coloured photographs
substantially of the kind described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent.
In order that our invention may be the more readily understood we remark that
the said patented invention consists essentially in the production on a transparent
or semi-transparent film by the action of light, of a positive photograph which is
coloured by the application to its back of a paper or other backing on which has
been printed the colours necessary to make the positive photograph, when viewed
in front, have approximately the colour or colours of the object or objects from
which the photograph was taken.
In producing a coloured photograph according to our invention we proceed as
follows; From a photograph of the object or objects we prepare in the manner
well known and commonly practised a colloid printing film from which we print
by means of the printing ink and printing press ordinarily employed in the collo-
type process impressions of the said positive photograph. The positive prints are
produced on a film of celluloid or other transparent or semi-transparent film. The
process of collotype printing being well known we do not think it necessary to
describe the same. We will call the print obtained by the collotype printing
process the positive photograph as it is a fac-simile of the positive obtained by the
action of light.
We take traced outlines from the positive photograph the said outlines being
the outlines of the different colours to be printed upon the colour print hereinafter
described and we transfer the said outlines to lithographic stones the number of
stones employed being equal to the number of colours necessary to give the required
colouring to the transparent positive photograph.
The lithographic stones with the outlines thereon are treated in the way by
which the stones are treated in chromo-lithography.
We print from the said treated lithographic stones a print preferably on paper

page_text: the said print being produced by a series of printings superposed upon one another,
the said printings being in different coloured printing inks. The production of
these coloured impressions is effected in the way well known and commonly
practised in the production of chromo lithographs. The compound_coloured
impression produced has in its different parts the respective colours which require
to be placed at the back of the positive print on celluloid or other transparent or
semi transparent film to give it when viewed from the front approximately the
colours of the object or objects from which the photograph has been taken. The
colour print described is affixed to the back of the positive photograph by being
cemented thereto by gelatine or other adhesive matter, the surface of the celluloid
on which the positive photograph is printed and that of the paper on which the
colours are printed being presented to each other.
33
Or the colour printing may be effected on that side of the celluloid film on which
the collotype positive photograph has been printed. In this case we protect the
positive photograph by a coating of the varnish known in commerce as glasin
or with mastic or other colourless varnish the said coating of varnish being
allowed to harden before printing the colours upon it. Or in substitution of
varnish a solution of celluloid may be employed.
As the details of the methods by which the tracings for the production of the
colour print are made together with the details of the colour printing process
differ in no essential respect from the processes practised in chromo-lithography
we do not think it necessary to describe the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we claim
as our invention of "An improvement or improvements in the. production of
coloured photographs":-
The production of photographs having approximately the colours of the objects
represented by producing on celluloid or other transparent or semi-transparent
sheet or film a positive picture or photograph and placing at or attaching to the
back of the said transparent positive photograph a colour print which when the
photograph is viewed in front colours the said print so as to give the different
parts of it approximately the colours proper to the scene or article or articles
represented.
Dated the Fourteenth day of May 1898.
GEORGE JOSEPH SERSHALL.
JOSEPH HOWARD KIRK.