A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF LETTERING AND ORNAMENTING MIRRORS FOR ADVERTISING, DECORATIVE, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Smith, of Muswell Hill Villa, Hornsey,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A
NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF LETTERING AND ORNAMENTING MIRRORS FOR
ADVERTISING, DECORATIVE, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."-A commu-
nication from abroad by Elijah Alliger, of the City of New York,
in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1872.
I, CHARLES SMITH, of Muswell Hill Villa, Hornsey, in the County
5 of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF LETTERING AND ORNAMENTING
MIRRORS FOR ADVERTISING, DECORATIVE, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," a com-

page_text: munication to me from abroad by Elijah Alliger, of the City of New
York, in the United States of America, to be as follows:-
:
The object of this Invention is the use or application of mirrors and
other plates of silvered glass for advertising, decorative, and art purposes
generally. When desired, the lines, letters, figures, and ornamentation
used herein can be so arranged that the silvered glass may retain its
usefulness as a mirror.
The glass may be used in any required form, for ornamental pannelling
in furniture and buildings, and for other decorative purposes; also as
ornamental notice or show boards for advertisements and other similar
purposes.
-I
The mode of carrying the above object into effect is as follows: —
take properly silvered plates of glass, and remove therefrom by
mechanical or chemical means, or both, that portion of the said silver
or silvering which is to be occupied or covered by the lines, letters,
figures, or other devices or objects intended to be represented or
exhibited. The letters, lines, and other such portions of the cleared
glass are then colored, frosted, gilded, or otherwise treated to render
them visible, or to produce the desired effect thereon. The shapes,
forms, or outlines of works of art, such as pictures, photographs, and 1
the like are cleared of the silvering on the mirror in like manner, and
the spaces thus cleared occupied by the pictures or objects to be
displayed: The whole of the back of the mirror or plate may then be
covered with paint or other suitable material to form a ground or
protection. Photographs and other objects thus presented to the eye 2
will appear in high relief. They may be secured or held in place by
any suitable and efficient means. Or, I produce on the glass itself, by
photography or other suitable and efficient means, the pictures, devices,
letters, figures, and lines intended to appear or be represented, and silver.
the ground, or so much of it as may be desired, and then add the paint 3
or such other ground as may be necessary.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
SMITH, of Muswell Hill Villa, Hornsey, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Smith, Her special licence that I,
the said Charles Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Charles Smith, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF
LETTERING AND ORNAMENTING MIRRORS FOR ADVERTISING, DECORATIVE, AND OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad by Elijah Alliger,
of the City of New York, in the United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Smith, my executors
or adminstrators, 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 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 Charles Smith, 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:-
The object of this Invention is the use or application of mirrors and
other plates of silvered glass for advertising, decorative, and art purposes
generally. When desired the lines, letters, figures, and ornamentation

page_text: used herein can be so arranged that the silvered glass which has not
been disturbed or affected by the process may retain its usefulness as an
ordinary mirror.
The glass may be cut or cast in any required or desired form or
shape, and be used for ornamental pannelling in furniture, on the walls
and ceilings of rooms and buildings, and for various other decorative
purposes; also for plain or ornamental notice or show boards for
advertisements and other similar purposes.
The method of carrying the above object into effect in practice is as
follows: I take properly silvered plates of glass of the requisite size
and shape, and remove therefrom that portion of the said silver or
silvering which it is proposed to occupy or cover by the lines, letters,
figures, or other devices or objects intended to be. represented or
exhibited. For lines, letters, and small devices I remove the silvering
with a style, graver, or other finely pointed or sharp edged tool or
implement, either with or without the aid of a stencil plate cut to the
required device, or by a brush or other instrument and stencil plate
only.
"
In the case of larger pictures, photographs, works of art, and other
devices I trace the outlines, shapes, or forms thereof on the silvering,
and remove a portion of the same in the manner previously described,
or by means of a brush or other instrument with a stencil plate of the
required form. Or the said silvering may be removed from the glass by
any of the usual chemical agents capable of decomposing it or detaching
it therefrom, care being taken in all cases to leave the edges of the
silvering which is left on the glass as "clean or even as practicable.
The lines, letters, and other such portions of the cleared glass are then
covered with pigment, colored paper, or other suitable material or
materials, or frosted, or otherwise treated to render them visible or to
produce the desired effect. The larger pictures and other devices are
placed in the spaces cleared to their respective shapes, and are secured
therein by strong paper, cloth, or other backing on the whole or a
portion of the silvered glass. The latter may be previously covered
with paint or other suitable material to form a ground or protection.
Photographs and other objects thus presented to the eye will appear in
high relief, and their general beauty and effect be greatly enhanced.

page_text: Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the method of performing the same, I claim as new and
lesire to secure by the before-mentioned in part recited Letters Patent,
the method of ornamenting mirrors, and displaying lines, letters, figures,
pictures, works of art, and other devices thereon, substantially as and for
he purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three..
CHARLES SMITH. (L.S.)