IMPROVED COMBINATIONS OF GLASS AND CERAMIC SUBSTANCES APPLICABLE FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND OTHER PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Paul Raoul de Faucheux D'Humy, of 10, .
Southampton Street, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED COMBINATIONS OF GLASS
AND CERAMIC SUBSTANCES APPLICABLE FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND OTHER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Paul Raoul de
Faucheux D'Humy at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 8th May 1875.
I, PAUL RAOUL DE FAUCHEUX D'HUMY, of 10, Southampton Street,
High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED COMBINATIONS
OF GLASS AND CERAMIC SUBSTANCES APPLICABLE FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND OTHER
ORNAMENTATION, AND FOR A VARIETY OF USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to the fabrication of useful objects for
domestic and other purposes, as well as to architectural and other

page_text: ornamentation by new and varied combinations of glass and ceramic
substances, either singly or combined. And this Invention consists in
particular applications of the said glass and ceramic substances of
suitable forms and colours, whereby baskets, fire-screens, blinds, vases,
workboxes, trays, and a variety of useful and ornamental devices are
produced by combining pieces of the before-named substances, uniting
them by means of metallic wire or bands, or other suitable binding
material, for which purpose I use the materials of circular or prismatic
section, and either solid or hollow (as tubes), as I may find best adapted
to reflect or refract the light."
And further, in applying the before-named substances to architectural
purposes, I employ flat or raised pieces of glass or china in plain colors,
or in variously illuminated forms; and these I join together by means
of a transparent cement on a ground of glass, talc, or other suitable
material, so as to form any desired pattern or device without interfering
with the transparent character of the materials employed, producing on
walls or windows a great variety of pleasing effects in a simple and
economical manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Paul Raoul de Faucheux D'Humy in the Great 2
Seal Patent Office on the 8th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PAÙL
RAOUL DE FAUCHEUX D'HUMY, of 10, Southampton Street, High
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her?
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Paul Raoul de Faucheux D'Humy, Her
special license that I, the said Paul Raoul de Faucheux D'Humy, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Paul Raoul de Faucheux D'Humy, 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

page_text: 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 "IMPROVED COMBINATIONS OF GLASS AND CERAMIC
SUBSTANCES APPLICABLE FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND OTHER ORNAMENTATION, ANd for
A VARIETY OF USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Paul Raoul de Faucheux D'Humy, my executors or
administrators, 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 Paul Raoul de Faucheux D'Humy,
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 thereof, that is to
say :-
In pursuance of my Invention I purpose to manufacture a variety of
useful objects for domestic and other purposes, and to adapt the same
to architectural and other ornamentation, and I effect these objects by
new and varied combinations of glass, ceramic, and other substances,
either singly or combined. And in the particular applications of these
substances I adopt suitable forms and colors, so as to produce such
articles as baskets, fire-screens, curtains, blinds, vases, workboxes, desks,
trays, mats, columns, tiles, wall facings, panelling, chandeliers, lamps,
lanterns, shades, finger plates for doors, and a great variety of useful
and ornamental devices; and these are produced by combining pieces or
strips, or rods, or tubes, or prisms, of the before-mentioned substances,
uniting them by means of metallic, wood, or other frames, metallic wire
or bands, silk, or other suitable binding material, for which purpose I
use the pieces of glass or china of circular, prismatic, or other suitable
section, either solid or hollow (as tubes), as I may find best adapted to
reflect and refract the rays of light so as to produce the best effect.
In applying this Invention to architectural purposes I use similar
combinations to those described for work not required to be transparent,
but in cases where the combinations of colored materials are used for
the purpose of the partial admission of light, as in stained glass windows,

page_text: and the like, I combine various forms and colors, so as to constitute.
figures, landscapes, architectural pictures, and patterns of various
characters, and these I place upon sheets or plates of colorless or
colored glass, as may be necessary to produce the desired effects. These
pieces of glass I arrange sometimes with pieces of plain or figured china,
which will greatly contribute in many designs to heighten the effect,
at the same time dispensing entirely with the ordinary lead binders,
which tend greatly to mar the effect of the design wherever it has been
found necessary to employ them. After arranging the pieces of glass
in their places, so as to form the desired pattern or device they are
connected to the sheet of colorless glass, upon which they are placed,
and are united thereto and to each other by means of a transparent
and colorless cement, by which all interference with the general design
is obviated.
In adapting the rods, tubes, or prisms of glass to the various purposes
I sometimes use them in single, double, or more layers, so arranged as
to present a pleasing combination of color and refractive effect. By
arranging the respective layers obliquely or at right angles to cach
other unique refractive effects are produced, in some cases resembling
silk, &c., and these effects are rendered more brilliant and sparkling by
backing them up with silvered glass, gold, silver, or other metallic
tinsel or papers, such combinations imparting great novelty to the
compositions. Rebated or grooved frames of wood or metal may be
employed for holding the combinations together and preventing them.
from shifting. In arranging the solid pieces of material for blinds or
screens I cap the ends of each separate piece with a suitable capsule or
ferrule having a wire eye at the end, through which a ribbon or wire is
rove, so as to bind the several pieces together, as in Figure 1. The
capsule may be secured to the glass (which may be roughened if
necessary) by any suitable cement.
Where the pieces of glass, &c., are of considerable length it will be
desirable to slip a metallic ferrule or collar on to the body of them, such
ferrule having a staple attached to the side of it, through which a flat
or other ribbon, or a silk cord or metallic band, wire, or chain, may be
rove, as in Figure 2. Or, it may be confined by double staples and
straight ribbons, or a ribbon may be simply interlaced between the
several pieces, as in Figure 3.
The ribbons may be secured in their places where necessary by

page_text: suitable cement, rivets, or solder. Where tubes are employed instead of
solid cylinders, or rods, or prisms, similar capsules and eyes may be used
as for the solid cylinders; or pins having each an eye at one end may be
inserted, and a ribbon,-braid, or wire may be rove through it and looped,
knotted, or otherwise fastened where necessary to hold the several parts
together, as in Figure 4; or a wire may be inserted through the whole
length of the tube, having an eye at each, through which a wire or cord
I
may be rove and looped or knotted, if necessary, as in Figure 5.
sometimes vary the effect by using two or more layers of such pieces of
glass, &c., by combining or arranging them either at right angles or
obliquely, as in Figures 6 and 7, producing a pleasing effect of waved
or figured work like silk, &c., and if backed up in the case of opaque
screens, &c., with silvered glass, metallic tinsel, or paper, will present a
very brilliant appearance.
Basket vases or flower pot casings may be made of various forms, or
boxes or desks may be similarly constructed, having the ends confined
by light metallic or wood frames, as in Figures 8 and 9. The front and
top of a box, &c., may be varied so as to embrace the square or diagonal
arrangement, or both combined, and these may be further varied by the
introduction of plain, or embossed, or engraved pieces of colored sheet
glass in lozenge or other forms. As these constructions are a matter
of design it will be sufficient to give one or two examples to exemplify
the Invention.
It must be obvious that the applications of glass, colored or colorless,
transparent or opaque, in the form of solid rods or cylinders, prisms or
tubes, either fluted or reeded, as herein proposed are endless, and it must
be equally obvious that to construct such articles as are herein-before
enumerated, or any taper conoidal or curvilinear form, would require the
pieces of glass to be tapered or shaped to suit the character of the article
to be formed, and that by suitable moulds or forms any curved or other
shape may be given to the component pieces as shall when combined
form vases, &c., of various shapes. These may be made as in Figure 10,
the thickness or section of the various parts of the length being pro-
portionate at each section to the respective sections of the vase, &c., to-
which they apply, so that at each section as a, b, c, d, the same number
of pieces or parts shall constitute when placed together the whole cir-
cumference at such sections, as in Figure 11. The binding of these
several pieces together may be easily effected by frames or rings of wood

page_text: or metal, forming a base, and capping and grooved to receive the ends of
the pieces forming the article.
I further propose to apply my Invention to the encasing of objects or
articles of stone, brick, terra cotta, earthenware, wood, or other sub-
stances, which admit of superficial ornamentation, and I apply the casing
to such architectural objects or articles as consoles, trusses, brackets, as
well as to panels and the surface of walls generally, by affixing the glass
rods, tubes, or prisms, interspersed in some cases with colored or silvered
glass, tinsels, or papers, which I combine in a great variety of patterns.
Upon flat surfaces, as walls or panelling, I prefer to lay a ground of
silvered glass, tinsel, or colored paper, and to place thereupon glass rods,
tubes, or prisms, and to arrange them as before stated either in single or
double layers, the latter to be arranged at right angles or obliquely to
each other, so as to produce a figured character the result of the refracted
light. In lieu of tubes or rods I sometimes use plates or pieces of
corrugated or embossed glass in a similar manner, which produces a
similar effect. When spaces or intervals are left between the ground
and the tubes or rods, I use glass fillets to support the tubes or rods,
and insert in the spaces colored patterns on paper or transferred there-
from to form margins thereto.
As coverings for walls, tiles formed of glass plates, either in frames
or otherwise, may be used and covered with glass tubes or rods, or
prisms, singly or combined, as herein-before described. These may be
fixed to the walls either on plastering, or by any suitable fastening,
forming a substitute for marble, glazed earthenware, or other ordinary
facings. Such tiles may also be simply formed by embedding the glass
rods, tubes, or prisms, or other pieces of glass or ceramic material in
cement while it is in a plastic state, in some cases a sheet of tinsel
being interposed between them.
Wood blocks, corrugated or grooved on the surface, may be employed
as the ground and the tinsel placed thereon, and the rods, tubes, or
prisms bedded in the hollows thereof and their ends confined by a
rebated frame. In forming cylindrical objects, as columns, pedestals,
or small casings for ornamental purposes, I take a cylinder of plain or
silvered glass, and I encase it with glass rods, tubes, or prisms, either
vertically confining the ends by rings or horizontally by glass rings, the
whole, if desired, being covered by a plain glass cylinder. Where the

page_text: rings are used in combination with the rods, tubes, or prisms, they may
be placed on the outside, thereby confining them in their proper posi-
tion; and as the rings will cross the rods, tubes, or prisms at right
angles, patterns, as before described, will be produced.
Louvres, as sunblinds for windows, may be made by fitting the
glass rods, tubes, or prisms in frames, which being hung on pivots, may
be moved to any angle by means of a connecting rod and a lever as
in the ordinary manner.
Venetian blinds may be formed in a suitable manner, the plates or
laths being connected together by tapes, wires, or other suitable and
ordinary manner, so as to admit of their being coiled upon a roller or
closed together. Similar blinds may be made in a continuous piece by a
series of rods, tubes, or prisms connected together, as herein-before
described, and coiled upon a roller in the manner of ordinary blinds.
Curtains of various patterns may be formed of vertical rods, or tubes,
or prisms suspended by rings from a pole in the ordinary manner, the
ends of the rods, tubes, or prisms, being connected together by a chain
rove through eyes attached to capsules on the ends of the rods; such
curtains may be drawn aside as ordinary curtains.
Picture or looking-glass frames may readily be formed by placing
rods, tubes, or prisms, with or without pieces of colored sheet glass, and
may be placed on a wood backing or margin, and confined by the edge
beading, and further embellished by ornamental and gilt carving.
Coverings for tables in substitution of polished wood or other
coverings may be constructed in a similar manner to the foregoing tiles
or other surface coverings combined in radial or other patterns, and
secured by a moulded rim.
Decorations for furniture, as cabinets and similar articles, will partako
of the like character.
Lanterns for gas and other lights in halls, &c., may be formed of any
desired shape by fitting the glass rods, tubes, or prisms into skeleton
metal frames of the desired pattern.
In combining glass of various colors in imitation of stained glass windows
or the like I take a sheet of glass as a groundwork and place thereon
pieces of colored glass, forming a device either as a figure, landscape, or
architectural design in the manner of Mosaic work, and I unite the
pieces thereto and to each other by means of a colorless cement without

page_text: interfering with or otherwise influencing the character of the design, as
is done in the ordinary compositions where lead is used for uniting the
parts of the device, and such compositions of color are further enhanced
by inserting between the ground or sheet of colorless glass and the
colored pieces forming the design transparent engravings, or figured
glass, or gelatine, or other suitable material by which a great variety of
patterns may be produced.
By means of this Invention it is obvious that stained glass windows
may be produced with facility and correctness, and without the risk
which usually accompanies such works of art. This method not only
applies to designs which are simple arrangements of simple colors,
arranged according to pattern, as Mosaic work, but equally applies to
shaded colored glass, which is essentially necessary in the composition
of figures or objects which require to be shaded in order to give them
the desired expression. Thus far it will be obvious that the objects and
applications of the Invention herein described are most extensive, and
the combinations of colored rods, tubes, and sheets of glass combined
with ceramic pictures or tinted surfaces with prismatic or reeded strips
and corrugated surfaces are endless for architectural ornamentation
cither on the interior walls of buildings in the form of tiles or panelling
or for projecting members of the design, as consoles, brackets, trusses,
and the like, all possessing the recommendation of being casily cleaned
without their brilliancy or effect being impaired.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a method of capping the ends of solid rods or hollow
tubes or prisms by capsules or ferrules fitted with eyes, through which a
ribbon, wire, cord, or other suitable device is rove and knotted so as to
bind the several pieces together.
Figure 2 shews a, body ferrule with a single side staple through which
a ribbon, wire, or other device may be rove; or double staples may be
used and double ribbons rove through them, as in Figure 3.
Figure 4 shews a method of uniting the tubes by the insertion of a
wire pin at each end, having an eye through which a cord or wire may
be roved and knotted.
Figure 5 shews a method of effecting the same object by passing a
wire through the entire length of the tube, having at each end an eye
through which a wire or cord may be rove and knotted.

page_text: F. D'HUMY. (L.S.)