IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DECANTERS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF GLASS
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GOLD, of Etna Glass Works, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Glass
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of April, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Gold, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said John Gold, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Gold, my exors, adñors, 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, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DECANTERS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
GLASS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
John Gold, should cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited 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
John Gold, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-

page_text: at the lower end, there being an air-way b into the interior of the inner die
in order to admit of air before raising the inner die out of the mould. a¹ is a
rod affixed to the valve a and rises to the upper surface of the die, and there
is a screw formed on the upper end of the rod a¹, having a nut thereon which
can be turned by the wrench c, when required to lower the valve. In using
this means of casting the lower part or body of a decanter, a quantity of
heated metal (glass) is to be placed in the mould in the state shewn at
Figures 1 and 2, sufficient for forming a decanter or other bottle-shaped vessel,
according to the capacity of the mould, and as is well understood when casting
other articles in moulds of a somewhat similar character; the inner die is then
to be inserted into the mould and pressed on by the rame of any suitable
press, by which the space between the mould and the inner die will be filled
with the nearly fluid metal (glass), and a vessel similar to that shewn at
Figure 6 will be produced, the inner surface thereof being even and without
partaking of the outer contour of the vessel; the workman then takes a portion
of glass on to his rod and applies it to the bottom of the vessel, Figure 6, and
places the vessel into the furnace in order to heat the same; he then shapes the
neck and mouth of the decanter, as is well understood when making or finishing
decanters or bottle-shaped vessels when they have been blown in similar moulds.
I would here remark, that I am aware that basons and some other open
vessels have been formed by moulds having an interior die for shaping
the inner surface of the vessel in place of blowing it into the mould. I do
not therefore claim the making of vessels generally by dies and pressure.
But the first part of my Invention simply relates to the mode herein described
of forming the lower part of decanters and other bottle-shaped vessels which
require to be drawn in and formed into necks for stoppers after forming the
lower parts or bodies in moulds by the aid of internal shaping dies, as above
described.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which relates to a
mode of forming glass finger plates for doors, and for forming other plates
with ornamental surfaces by means of dies and pressure; for this purpose
I form a hollow die to receive the metal (glass), and this die I engrave or
shape according to the Figure I wish to produce on one side of the door or
other plate, and I form another die having a plain or smooth surface, as is
shewn at Figures 7 and 8, a being the lower or hollow die, and b being the upper
or plain die, and according as the dies are formed so will be the ornamental
surface sunk into the back surface of the glass plate produced. And in order
further to ornament such plates, í gild or paint the design at the back, so that
when the plate is fastened to the door or other surface, the outer surface will

page_text: be smooth whilst the impressed and otherwise ornamental surface will appear
through.
And I would have it understood, that what I claim as the second part
of my Invention is, the mode of forming ornamental plates of glass for
finger plates of doors, and other surfaces, as above described.
Figure 9 shews a glass drop for lustres, chandeliers, &c. constructed according
to the third part of my Invention. By this Figure it will be seen that the drop
is bent at the two points A, A, at right angles or nearly so, by which arrange-
ment greater brilliancy of effect is obtained than in the ordinary straight drop,
though I would here observe that the number of bends and the degree of
sharp angular bending may be varied without departing from the spirit of this
part of my Invention. When this glass drop is used for ornamenting lustres,
chandeliers, &c., they may be drilled and suspended in the ordinary manner,
as they may be linked together to form a chain, all which will depend upon
the taste of the designer, and the purposes to which they may be applied.
Figure 10 shews the die in which the glass drop, Figure 9 is formed, the
metal (glass) being placed in the die in a fluid state is pressed upon by
the top plate, Figure 11, of the die; these dies differ in no degree except in
shape from the dies in ordinary use for making glass drops, and they may be
attached to pliers and pressed together in the ordinary manner, or they may
be forced together by any suitable press.
What I claim as the third part of my Invention is the forming of glass
drops with sharp angular bends in them, for the purpose of obtaining greater
brilliancy of effect, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gold, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and forty.
JOHN (L.S.) GOLD.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid John Gold came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was duly stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thou-