IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STATUARY, CORNICES, BRACKETS, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, BY THE EMPLOYMENT OF GLASS IN IMITATION OF AND AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MARBLE
Year: 1878

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STATUARY, CORNICES, BRACKETS,
AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, BY THE EMPLOYMENT OF GLASS IN IMITATION OF
AND AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MARBLE." A communication from abroad by
Thomas Alexander Hunter, in the City and State of New York, United States
of America.
Sealed the 22nd November 1878, and dated the 2nd September 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd September 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
STATUARY, CORNICES, BRACKETS, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, BY THE EMPLOYMENT
OF GLASS IN IMITATION OF AND AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MARBLE" [A communi-
cation from abroad by Thomas Alexander Hunter, in the City and State of New
York, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of statues, medallions,
statuettes, busts, urns, vases, and similar works of art, and cornices, brackets, and
other articles for architectural and household ornamentation and use by the employ-
ment of glass in imitation of the same articles made of marble, and as a substitute
for marble. And the Invention comprises improved processes and modes of
applying glass for the purposes above mentioned, and the production of imitation
marble articles therefrom; the object of the Invention being to produce at a com-
paratively small cost, perfect imitations of articles made of marble, by the employ-
ment of a substance which are much more durable, and less liable to be damaged or
disfigured than is the case with marble.
The various articles to which this Invention is applicable are statuary and other
works of art as above mentioned, and various articles of architectural and household
ornamentation and use, such as cornices, brackets, balusters, and balustrades, centre
Price ad

page_text: pieces, mouldings, pedestals, columns, altars, monuments, fountains, panels, mantel
pieces, table and waslistand slabs, wainscoting, ornamental tiling, caskets, and
similar articles which are or have been usually made of marble.
In carrying this Invention into practice, I cast the several articles in moulds of
the desired form and dimensions (or in some cases they may be blown as glass is
blown), employing for the purpose such materials and substances as are suitable for
producing opaque or semi-opaque glass, carefully annealing the same and adding
thereto while in a plastic condition other substances suitable for producing imita-
tions of the several kinds of marble which it is desired to imitate; and after the
articles are taken from the moulds, I subject their surfaces to the action of acids or
sand blasts, or grind or otherwise treat them so as to produce the appearances and
effects which may be desired. By these means the most perfect imitations of the
most expensive kinds of marble are obtained, and the most costly statuary and
works of art in marble can be imitated at a very trifling cost, so perfectly that the
difference cannot be detected even by experts.
And in like manner, brackets, cornices, and similar articles of architectural and
household ornamentation and use ordinarily made of marble, can, by means of this
Invention, be produced at a comparatively, small cost, which articles, while they are
perfect imitations of the same articles made of marble, possess the advantages of
being much more durable and less liable to damage from fractures, stains, and
discoloration. The several kinds of veined, mottled, and variegated marbles are,
according to this Invention, imitated by adding suitable coloring matters to the
ingredients in the process of manufacture, and a "dead surface" is produced thereon
by the action of acids, sand blasts, or grinding, according to the appearance or
effect that may be desired, or a polished surface is produced thereon when desired
by the means ordinarily employed for polishing marble or glass.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
February 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firin of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
STATUARY, CORNICES, BRACKETS, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, BY THE EMPLOYMENT
OF GLASS IN IMITATION OF AND AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MARBLE." A communi-
cation from abroad by Thomas Alexander Hunter, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in methods or processes of manufacturing
statues, medallions, statuettes, busts, urns, vases, and similar works of art, and
cornices, brackets, and other articles of architectural and household ornamentation
and use, as herein-after enumerated from glass in imitation of the same articles
made from marble, and as a substitute for marble. And the Invention consists in
the improved processes and modes of applying glass for the purposes above
mentioned, and in the production of imitation marble articles therefrom, the object
of the Invention being to produce at a comparatively small expense, perfect inita-
tions of the articles made from marble, from substances which are much more
durable and less liable to be damaged or disfigured than is marble.
The several articles to which this Invention is applicable, are statuary and other
works of art as above mentioned, and various articles of household ornamentation
and use, such as cornices, brackets, balusters, and balustrades, centre pieces, mould-
ings, pedestals, columns, altars, monuments, fountains, panels, mantel pieces, table
and washstand slabs, wainscoting, ornamental tiling, caskets, and similar articles
which are or have been usually made from marble.
In carrying out this Invention into practice, I cast the several articles in moulds
of the desired form and dimensions (or in some cases they may be blown as glass is
blown), employing for the purpose such materials and substances as are suitable for
producing opaque or semi-opaque glass, carefully annealing the same and adding
thereto while in a plastic condition certain other substances suitable for producing
imitations of the several kinds of marble which it is desired to imitate, and after
the articles are taken from the moulds, I subject their surfaces to the action of acids
or sand blasts, or grind or otherwise treat them so as to produce the appearances
and effects which may be desired. By these means, the most perfect imitations of
the most expensive kinds of marble are obtained, and the most costly statuary and
works of art in marble can be imitated at a very trifling cost, so perfectly that the
difference cannot be detected even by experts.
And in like manner, brackets, cornices, and similar articles of architectural and
household ornamentation and use ordinarily made from marble, can, by means of
this Invention, be produced at a comparatively small expense, which, while they
are perfect imitations of the same articles made from marble, possess the advantages
of being much more durable, and less liable to damage from fractures, stains, and
discolouration. The several kinds of veined, mottled, and variegated marbles are,
according to this Invention, imitated by adding suitable colouring matters to the
ingredients in the process of manufacture, and a "dead surface" is produced thereon
by the action of acids, sand blasts, or grinding, according to the appearance or
effect that may be desired, or a polished surface is produced thereon when desired,
by the means ordinarily employed for polishing marble or glass.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and the several modes in which it is
or may be carried into practical effect.
To imitate fine Italian white marble, statuary, and similar articles made from
pure white marble, I use opaque or semi-opaque white glass, which may be com-
posed of about two parts of silica free from iron, and one part of soda; and for the

page_text: purpose of rendering it more opaque, phosphate of lime in the proportion of from
three to seven per cent. of the bulk may be added, or an opaque white glass may be
produced as follows, to wit:-Sand, ten parts; cryolite, four parts; oxide of zinc,
one part; these ingredients are treated in the usual manner as practised in glass
works, being melted in pots which may be of the ordinary construction or kind used
in making glass, and "gathered" and pressed in moulds of the proper form or shape
for producing the article desired; and the product is annealed for the purpose of
rendering it tough and strong. After the articles have been removed from the
moulds, I subject their surfaces to the action of a sand blast, or grind them, or
apply hydro-fluoric acid thereto, for the purpose of producing a "dead surface" in
imitation of marble wrought by tools.
To imitate articles made from the finest Belgian black marble, I use opaque black
glass which may be made from the following formula, namely:-Flint batch, six
hundred pounds; manganese, twelve pounds; oxide of iron, seven pounds; zaffre,
one fourth of one pound. These ingredients I treat in the manner above described,
for producing a "dead surface," and if any portions of the surface are to be polished,
the ordinary methods of polishing glass, well known to glass workers, may be em-
ployed.
The various kinds of veined, mottled, and variegated marbles of different colours,
I imitate by using coloured opaque or semi-opaque glass mixtures or "metals,"
compounded by the ordinary methods known to workers in glass, and introduce into
the same some one or more of the well-known metallic oxides suitable for producing
the desired effects and appearances. These oxides are dropped into the moulds,
and the contents of the moulds are pressed quickly and annealed, and afterwards
treated as before described, to produce the "dead surface" or the polished surface,
as the case may require.
Ordinarily I cast the articles in moulds as above set forth, but it will readily bo
understood that some articles may be blown in the same manner that glass is blown,
and afterwards treated as above described, for producing the "dead surface," and
the polished surface respectively.
Having thus described my Invention, and particularly ascertained in what
manner the same is or may be carried into effect, I observe in conclusion that what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as my Invention is,-
Firstly. The improved methods or processes herein-before set forth of manufac-
turing statuary and other works of art, and cornices, brackets, and other articles of
household ornamentation and use, as herein-before enumerated, from glass in imita-
tion of and as a substitute for marble.
Secondly. I claim as improved articles of manufacture, imitation marble, statuary,
works of art, and articles of architectural and household ornamentation and use, as
herein-before enumerated, when made from glass in the manner and by the processes
herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
Witness,
JOHN THOS. KNOWLES.
Wч. ROB. LAKE. (L.S.)