AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING INDESTRUCTIBLE INSCRIPTIONS AND ORNAMENTAL SURFACES IN GOLD AND OTHER PRECIOUS METALS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Antoine Salviati, of Venice, Advocate, now residing
:
at Great Portland Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING INDESTRUCTIBLE INSCRIPTIONS AND
ORNAMENTAL SURFACES IN GOLD AND OTHER PRECIOUS METALS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Laurent. Radi, of Venice, a foreigner,
residing abroad.
Sealed the 9th December 1862, and dated the 12th June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said 'Antoine Salviati at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on 'the 12th
June 1862.
I, ANTOINE SALVIATI, of Venice, Advocate, now residing at Great Portland
Street, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING INDESTRUCTIBLE INSCRIPTIONS
AND ORNAMENTAL SURFACES IN GOLD AND OTHER PRECIOUS METALS," to be as
follows:-
The ornamental surfaces which it is intended to produce by means of this
Invention consist of a combination of glass, enamel, or vitreous materials
with thin sheets of gold or silver, or both.
In carrying out the Invention I take a thin sheet of metal, either of gold or
silver, and having laid it on a table, or made it to coat the internal surface of a
mould, I pour on to the gold on the table, or into the mould, melted glass, which

page_text: will take the form of the mould or table, and upon removing the vitreous sub-
stance from the table or mould the glass will appear coated with the metal
employed. In order to protect this surface from the air and from damage by
wear or otherwise, I coat or cover it with a thin coat or sheet of glass, which
by the application of heat will adhere with tenacity to the surface, and when
hard the combined materials will form one body as indestructible and inalter-
able as a piece of glass or enamel."
Sometimes I produce surfaces which are only partially covered with metal,
as for instance, the names of individuals, streets, or inscriptions for various
purposes, by cutting certain parts (such as the required letters) out of the
sheet of metal, and then proceed, as before, to back this up with glass. If
transparent glass be employed it will leave the name transparent, while all the
parts around will be covered with the metal, and will therefore be partially
opaque, or only translucent.
It will, of course, be understood that any design, moulding, or ornament
that is capable of being cast or moulded for whatever purpose it may be
required, may be employed in carrying out the Invention, and that the
surfaces of any ornament that can be cast in glass can be ornamented in this
It will also be evident that flat surfaces may be ornamented by the
application of gold in this manner, and pieces of the ornamental material may
be used to produce mosaic work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Antoine Salviati in the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 12th December 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTOINE
SALVIATI, of Venice, Advocate, now residing at Great Portland Street, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Antoine Salviati, Her special license that I, the said Antoine
Salviati, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Antoine Salviati, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the terin therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,

page_text: use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING INDESTRUCTIBLE INSCRIPTIONS AND ORNAMENTAL
SURFACES IN GOLD AND OTHER PRECIOUS METALS," being a communication from,
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Antoine Salviati,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Antoine Salviati, 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 (that is to say) :-
The ornamental surfaces which it is intended to produce by means of this
Invention consist of a combination of glass, enamel, or vitreous materials,.
with thin sheets of gold and silver, or both.
In carrying out the Invention I take a thin sheet of metal, either of gold or
silver, and having heated in an oven the piece of glass to be ornamented so
that it may be softened, I place the thin sheet of metal thereon, or the thin
sheet of metal having been laid on a table, the sheet of glass having been pre-
viously softened by being heated in an oven, is brought nearly into contact
with the metal, which will immediately attach itself to the glass, and then
upon applying a very, thin sheet of glass to the metal surface the latter will be
protected by a vitreous coating.
Another mode of proceeding consists in first softening the thin sheet of
glass, and then causing the film of gold to adhere to it in this state. The
gold, with its vitreous covering, may then be applied to the softened body of
glass or enamel which it is intended to ornament, and the combined materials
will form one body as indestructible and inalterable as a single piece of glass
or enamel. If I desire to emboss or otherwise ornament, the surface, I take
the combined materials while in a softened state and emboss them by pressure
with suitable dies or moulds; or if I desire to produce mouldings, this object
may be effected by means of rollers having surfaces of the required form; or the
surface may be rendered perfectly flat by passing over it a metal or other roller
having an even or plain surface.
Sometimes I produce surfaces which are only partially covered with metal,
as for instance the names of individuals, streets, or inscriptions for various
purposes by cutting certain parts (such as the required letters) out of the sheet

page_text: of metal, and then proceed, as before, to back this up with glass.' If trans-
parent glass be employed it will leave the name transparent, while all the
parts around will be covered with the metal, and will therefore be partially.
opaque, or 'only translucent.
It will, of course, be 'understood that any design; moulding, or ornament
that is capable of being embossed or moulded by embossing or by pressure,
for whatever purpose it may be required; may be employed in carrying out
the Invention, and therefore the surfaces of any ornament that can be moulded
in glass can be ornamented in this manner. It will also be evident that flat
surfaces may be ornamented by the 'application of gold in this manner, and
pieces of the ornamental material of suitable size, dimensions, and form may
be used to produce mosaic work.
Having now described this Invention of "an improved mode of producing
indestructible inscriptions and ornamental surfaces in gold and other precious
metals, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and having
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, as aforesaid; the application to the
surface of glass, enamel, or vitreous material of thin sheets of gold, silver, or
other suitable metal, and coating or protecting the same by a film of glass, as
and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Antoine Salviati, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight-hundred and sixty-two.
A. SALVIATI. (L.S.)