IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL GLASS SURFACES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Adolphe Marius Alexandre Iglesia, of Russell
Place, Fitzroy Square, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanic, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL GLASS
SURFACES."
Sealed the 24th June 1853, and dated the 9th April 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Adolphe Marius
Alexandre Iglesia at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 9th April 1853.
I, ADOLPHE MARIUS ALEXANDRE IGLESIA, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL
GLASS SURFACES" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce ornamental surfaces in
glass, and to apply the same to various useful purposes, such as for
constructing mantelpieces, panels, slabs, and other similar surfaces.
The glass may also be adapted for making mosaic or other pavements.
The glass is ornamented by applying to one of the surfaces thereof a
coating of paper, or other flexible material, such as linen, silk, cotton,

page_text: or other textile fabric, on which must be previously printed, drawn, or
otherwise marked, any particular design or device.
Very beautiful and brilliant designs may be produced on paper or
other fabric by means of lithography, and such designs may be either
plain or coloured, and when adapted to the under surface of the glass
will have a highly ornamental appearance. If required, the exact
design or pattern may be cut out in glass, if mathematical figures are
used; and when any number of pieces are assembled together, as in
mosaic work, very beautiful and fanciful patterns, suitable for highly
ornamental pavements, may be produced.
As, for many purposes, glass, if unprotected or unstrengthened by
some other stronger material, would be too fragile and liable to be
broken, I propose to strengthen the panels, slabs, or pieces, by mounting
them on or attaching them to slabs of slate, stone, metal, or other strong
or durable substances, which will sustain the glass, and prevent it from
being broken except by a very heavy blow.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Adolphe Marius Alexandre Iglesia, in the Great
Seal Patent Office, on the 8th October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ADOLPHE MARIUS ALEXANDRE IGLESIA, of Russell Place, Fitzroy
Square; in the County of Middlesex, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Adolphe Marius Alexandre Iglesia, Her special
licence that I, the said Adolphe Marius Alexandre Iglesia, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Adolphe
Marius Alexandre Iglesia, 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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL GLASS
SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Adolphe
Marius Alexandre Iglesia, 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 Adolphe Marius Alexandre Iglesia,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention of improvements in producing ornamental glass
surfaces consists, first, in the production of ornamental surfaces in
imitation of marble, granite, or any substance capable of a similar
polish, by applying, to the under surface of plates or pieces of glass,
paper or any other suitable pliable material, on which may be printed,
lithographed, drawn, or colored, by any of the well known processes, a
design, device, figure, or pattern in imitation of such marbles, granite,
or other substance.
My Invention consists, secondly, in ornamenting the under surfaces
of glass by applying thereto paper or any other pliable material, on which
may be printed, lithographed, drawn, colored, or otherwise produced
by any other suitable process, a design or device which shall have the
effect of designs painted upon such surface, or of mosaic or other
ornamental work.
The third part of the Invention relates to a method of consolidating
or strengthening the pieces of glass thus ornamented, so as to give them
the strength of marble or stone.
The process which I employ for the first and second of the purposes
aforesaid is as follows:-I dissolve in a vessel of pure water, by the
employment of a water bath at a gentle heat, gelatine or common glue,
or any other gelatinous substance, all of which I herein-after call
glue." In selecting the material to be employed for this purpose I

page_text: prefer such as is of a white color, as far as it can be conveniently obtained.
I do not limit myself to any particular strength of solution, but that
which I prefer usually to employ is of the strength ordinarily used for
the purposes of carpentry."
for use.
When the glue or gelatinous substance is entirely melted it must be
strained through a sieve, so as to remove all impurities; after which it
must be warmed to about eighty degrees Fahrenheit, when it will be fit
I then take the piece of glass to which the paper or other
substance having the design thereon (all of which I herein-after call
the "paper") is to be applied, and, after washing the glass well with
warm water, I lay the paper upon it, with the decorated surface upper-
most, and pass the solution all over it by means of a sponge; I then
remove the paper from the glass, and wet the glass well with the solu-
tion, after which I replace the paper upon the glass, with the moistened
surface undermost, and pass the solution again over it with the sponge,
taking care to remove any folds or creases which may shew themselves.
I then turn the piece of glass over, so as to place the paper underneath
it, and after raising the glass with the left hand I pass warm water over
the surface of the glass with a sponge until all the glue is completely
melted. I then, by means of a piece of steel with the edge rounded,
press out the glue from between the paper and the glass; and, lastly, I
turn the glass-so as to place the paper uppermost, and repeat the same
operation until the superfluous glue is removed; after which I clean the
back of the paper with a sponge moistened with warm water, and then
I leave it to dry. The temperature of the water employed in this
operation should not exceed eighty degrees to one hundred degrees
Fahrenheit.
I apply the process above described to the production of patterns
made of different pieces of papers of various colors by the following
method I glue the separate pieces, arranged so as to form the desired
pattern, design, or device, upon cloth; the design thus composed may,
when dry, be fixed on the glass in the manner described above; then,
upon moistening the back of the cloth, and carefully removing it, the
pieces forming the design will remain and adhere to the glass.
In order to form such a pattern I also sometimes apply the paper

page_text: which is to form the foundation of the pattern to the glass in one piece,
and afterwards cut out such parts as require to be removed to allow of
the introduction of the design, and remove them by means of a little
warm water and a brush and any blunt instrument, and fill up the
vacant spaces with the paper, which must be attached by the methods
before described.
The glass employed may be of any kind, care being taken to select
such pieces as are not much curved and are not very brittle.
The third part of the Invention, namely, the strengthening of the
glass plates prepared in the manner above set forth, is effected in the
following manner-When the paper attached to the glass is quite dry
I apply to the back of it a resinous composition, which I herein-after
call "the mastic," and is made of rosin, plaster of Paris, grease, dry
sawdust, cotton flock, or, in lieu of the last two substances, of sand.
The mixture which I prefer consists of four pounds of rosin, four pounds
of plaster of Paris, half a pound of grease, and three quarters of a pound
of sawdust. If it is desired to make the composition very hard, the
quantity of grease may be diminished, or it may even be omitted
altogether. All the substances may be put on together and melted over
a slow fire, and the whole stirred up with a piece of iron until they are
well mixed together.
Before applying this mastic I have found it useful to cover the
back of the paper with a mixture of glue and whitening, or of glue
and plaster of Paris, which should be allowed to get quite dry. The
use of this covering is to protect the glass from being cracked by
the heat of the mastic, but if care be taken in the application of the
latter it may be dispensed with. To prevent the danger of the front of
the glass being scratched I cover it over with a similar mixture. The
mastic is applied at a temperature just sufficient to keep it melted. In
applying the mastic I lay the glass upon an even surface of wood, and
if the surface of the glass is not quite flat I place upon the edge of it
weights of about six or eight pounds each, at a distance of two or three
inches from each other, so as to flatten it; I then lay on the mastic
evenly with a trowel upon the paper until it is one eighth of an inch
thick, commencing from the outside, and changing the position of the

page_text: weights as I proceed to a part where the mastic is dry enough to
support them, and applying it gradually, so as not to heat the glass
suddenly. When the mastic is quite dry I take slips of slate about
three inches broad and a quarter of an inch thick, and of a length
regulated by the size of the glass, but not exceeding two feet, through
different parts of which must be previously pierced a number of holes
by means of any common borer. These holes should be larger at the
side which is intended to be nearest the glass than at the bottom. The
bottom surface of the slate should be slightly warmed, and then a
portion of fresh mastic may be applied to that part of the previously
covered surface to which I desire to apply the slate; and I press the
slate down upon it, so as to force the mastic up through the holes.
When, by this process, one piece of slate is attached to the mastic, I
lay another alongside of it, taking care to fill up the intervals between
the pieces of slate and the holes in these pieces with the mastic until I
have entirely covered the back of the glass and paper with mastic and
slate. So soon as the mastic is cold the glass will remain straight and
solid, and the decorated surface will be perfectly preserved from injury.
If a further thickness be required it may be obtained by a repetition
of the same process.
In the process above described I do not limit myself to the use of
slate as a backing for the ornamental glass surfaces, but I also some-
times propose to employ brick, stone, iron, or other metals in solid
sheets or bars, or wood or other substances in frames or solid pieces,
according to the nature of the work required. Nor do I limit myself
to any particular size or thickness of the material employed, these being
capable of variation according to the circumstances of each case, and
the degree of solidity necessary to be given to the glass. In cases
where lightness is required, and where the glass is not exposed to violent
blows, I even dispense with any backing except the mastic, which I
always employ.
In applying my Invention to the coating of bricks or stones with
ornamented glass surfaces I do not carry the holes by which the brick
or stone is attached to the mastic through the substance thereof, as in
the case of slate, but only cut them a little way into it.

page_text: The blocks or slabs, prepared as aforesaid, may be fixed in a wall or
used as a flooring with ordinary cement, in the same way as ordinary
blocks or slabs of marble, requiring only similar precautions to those
commonly used by workers in marble to preserve them from scratches;
and pieces of wood, iron, or any other solid substance may be let into
the mastic so as to give facilities for attaching the blocks or slabs.
Having now described my Invention, and the best means with which
I am at present acquainted for carrying the same into operation, I
claim, in conclusion, ornamenting glass surfaces, as above described,
with various devices, designs, or imitations of natural objects by means
of paper or other suitable flexible material, on which may be printed,
lithographed, drawn, or colored the desired device, design, pattern, or
imitation. I also claim the methods above described of strengthening
or consolidating such ornamented surfaces, and rendering them ap-
plicable to the various purposes for which they may be employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Adolphe Marius Alexandre Iglesia,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three
Witness, FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. IGLESIA. (L.S.)