In- PROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING GLASS AND OTHER TRANSPARENT OR PARTIALLY TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR WINDOWS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tudor Mabley, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING GLASS AND OTHER TRANSPARENT OR
PARTIALLY TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR WINDOWS AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 7th May 1853, and dated the 9th November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tudor
Mabley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 9th November 1852.
I, WILLIAM TUDOR MABLEY, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING GLASS AND OTHER
TRANSPARENT OR PARTIALLY TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR WINDOWS AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES" to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in forming designs upon glass or other
transparent or partially transparent substances by photographic means,
such designs being applied to constitute the whole or portions of win-
dows, lamps, or other articles adapted for the passage of light: The
designs so to be applied may be produced by the "collodion," "albumen,".
"waxed paper," or by any other photographic process by which pictures
may be formed upon the required surfaces; but according to my Invention

page_text: the usual plan of finishing a photographic picture upon glass by the
application of some black material to one side thereof is not pursued,
the design being left as it were unfinished in this respect, and therefore
nantialle transmement
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Tudor Mabley in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL
COME, I,
WILLIAM TUDOR MABLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Tudor Mabley,
Her especial license that I, the said William Tudor Mabley, my exe-
cutors, 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 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING GLASS AND OTHER TRANSPARENT OR PARTIALLY
TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR WIDOWS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Tudor Mabley,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particu-
larly 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 William Tudor Mabley, du
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:

page_text: My Invention relates to forming designs upon glass or other trans-
parent or partially transparent substances for windows and lamps, and
consists in producing such designs for the said purposes by photo-
graphic processes.
Methods of taking photographic pictures upon glass, the "collodion,"
"albumen," &c., are well known as applied to objects apart from my
Invention; and as in referring to the same I shall allude to them as
commonly practised, it will not be necessary to describe particularly the
substances used, or the manipulation to be pursued, further than is
necessary to explain the modes of gaining the effects required for the
purposes of my Invention.
"
The most simple plan of producing a design for a window or lamp
is to copy a statue or other object upon glass by the "collodion" or
**albunien process, and when it has undergono the operation of
"fixing," applying a transparent varnish to protect it from injury. The
object represented by this method, however, will be reversed, as regards
lights and shadows, when used for the transmission of light, and will
not therefore be a correct representation of the model. In some cases,
however, particularly in ornamental scroll work, foliage, &c., the design
obtained in this manner will be to a certain extent effective, and even
in representations of some human figures the defect will not be striking.
The plan, however, which I prefer is to obtain designs which will bear
correct impression of light and shade when viewed by transmitted light.
In order to effect this the principle I proceed upon is, first, to obtain a
"negative" copy of the design, that is, one with the lights and shadows
reversed, and then by means of the "collodion," "albumen," or other
process, I copy this "negative" upon the substance intended to form the
window or lamp; the result is, a design which, viewed by the passage
of of light through it, is "positive," that is, with correct lights and
shadows.
The method of obtaining the first or "negative" copies may be
varied by using any of the known photographic methods of producing
such pictures upon paper or other substances, but I will state certain
manipulations as examples for carrying my Invention into effect.
Suppose the design to be applied as the window or lamp to be an

page_text: engraving printed upon paper, I place this upon a sheet of paper
prepared so as to be photographically sensitive by any of the known
methods, and expose it as usual to the action of light; the result, as is
well known, will be a negative photograph. This, after being "fixed,"
I use as the original for copying from on to the glass or other substance
for the window or lamp, and such copy being effected by the "collodion"
or other usual process will afford the positive transparency required. If
the subject be a statue or other object in relief, I first, with the
assistance of the camera, make a negative photograph by the "calotype"
or other paper process, or I use the "collodion" or other anologous
process; in which case, however, in order to put it into a negative state,
it is necessary to place behind it a ground lighter than the substance by
which the picture is formed; this may be done by white paint, paper, or
by allowing the light to shine through it. The copies of negatives formed
in this way will, as before, be positive transparencies; or negatives may
be produced by painting or drawing when entirely original designs are
required, but as the lights and shadows are to be reversed some practice
will be required for effecting this. In making the negatives by photo-
graphic processes, it will often be found that there is not that contrast of
light and shade which exists in the original; this defect, however, may
be in great measure remedied by lowering shadows and heightening
lights, and this may be readily be done with color applied by a brush;
where a lighter tone is required, the darkened part may be dissolved off*
by strong hypo-sulphite of soda or other known substances used as
solvents for such purposes. Another method of gaining the required
character is to obtain a picture by the "collodion," "albumen," &c.
process in the ordinary manner, and place this upon a prepared sensitive
plate of glass so as to obtain a photographic print thereon. If the plate,
however, be used wet, as is necessary in some processes, it must be kept
apart from that which is placed upon it by strips of thin paper, and this
interferes in some measure with the sharpness of the result. The
negative designs will, of course. answer for a number of positive
transparencies, and may be kept as stock for furnishing windows or
lamps, as required.
By the "printing" process the trausparency must of necessity be

page_text: upon the same scale as the negative first prepared, but if it be produced
from the said negative by means of the camera, then the dimensions
may be varied to suit any particular application, and in this manner
portions only of prints from engravings may be made a subject for the
window or lamp, and such portions may, if desired, be enclosed by a
scroll or other device, so as to be copied therewith and form a border.
It will be found that the effect is generally heightened by the inter-
position of a semi-transparent substance, as finely ground or enamelled
glass, for instance; this heightened effect may also be produced by
avoiding the use of hypo-sulphite of soda in the "collodion" and other
processes of that class, for if the picture be simply washed in water after
development no great change will subsequently take place; the remain-
ing iodite of silver will then form the semi-opaque coating required.
Au alteration in color does, however, go on to a certain extent, and
where great purity is desired it is better to use enamelled glass, and I
find the effect considerably more pleasing and distinct if it be placed at
a distance from the transparency, varying according to the intensity of
light which usually passes. In lamps this may be accomplished by
making the interior glass or chimney with a ground or enamelled
surface.
In making these photographic windows and lamps the same care is
not required as s necessary when producing pictures for other purposes,
for a defect which in the latter cases would be fatal to the appearance
would possibly not be noticed in the former. The time of exposure
to the action of light also is not of the same importance, although
there is, of course, a point at which the maximum of effect is obtained.
As a general rule photographs for the purposes of my Invention should
be exposed rather longer than would be necessary to produce a good
"positive" picture for ordinary purposes. If the design be not brought
out of sufficient strength by the developing solution when "collodiom
and other processes of that class are adopted, it may be heightened by
immersion in a weak solution of bichloride of mercury and muriatic
acid, a process which is well known for whitening "positives;" and a still
further boldness may be obtained by immersing the design so treated in
a bath of water, to which liquid ammonia has been added in small
"

page_text: quantity, say eight or ten drops to the ounce, but the proportions are
not important. These treatments also considerably modify the tone of
the design. In many cases the subject will not occupy the whole of
the surface of the glass, &c. intended to be ornamented; in this case
"collodion" may be spread upon a piece of glass or other smooth sub-
stance of smaller dimensions, and after the design is taken thereon the
film may be removed and applied to the material to be ornamented. To
effect this the film must be separated from the edges of the surface on
which it rests, and then a sheet of damp paper laid thereon a short
distance within the boundary of one end thereof; after this the projecting
edge of the film is to be turned on to the paper, which being drawn
gradually up will draw up with it the collodion from the plate. This
operation is now practised in order to avoid the use of many glasses in
taking ordinary pictures. The design to form the window or lamp is
now on a sheet of paper, and may be transferred to the permanent
surface by placing it thereon, having previously applied some gum
water or other adhesive substance, and commencing the operation by
loosening the film from the paper at one end, and gradually separating
them. By this method of transferring I am enabled to ornament
curved surfaces, which could not, of course, have the design produced
upon them in the camera; such curved surfaces may, however, be
ornamented by the process of photographic "printing" by binding
around them an original negative taken by photography or otherwise,
but in such cases albumen or other preparation which can be used dry
must be employed. By the above-described method of transparing, a
design may be produced made up of photographs from several originals,
corner pieces to scroll work, for instance, thus affording the opportunity
of varying designs without the necessity of as many originals. By it also
subjects may be extended beyond the magnitude practicable for a single
operation, for it is obvious that the design may be taken in several
portions, and joined together by the method of transferring so as to
form a whole. To do this by aid of the camera, care must be taken
that the successive portions correspond in scale; this condition will be
readily secured by measuring with compasses upon the focussing glass,
in order to assist which fine lines forming squares may be drawn upon

page_text: the object to be copied. In this manner a camera which covers but a
comparatively small surface may be used to produce designs of any
extent, for by first copying one portion, then another, and transferring
and joining them, as described, a perfect design will be the result.
When, according to this method, continuous designs are to be
produced, care must of course be taken to make the joints as im-
perceptible as possible; and this may be assisted by causing them to
pursue lines along portions where a defect would not be so obvious.
I have stated that the effect is generally improved by the combination
of a semi-opaque substance; this may be applied separately from
the ornamented surface, or the ornament may be produced direct on
enamelled or ground glass. The effect of these ornaments for windows
and lamps may be varied by coloring them direct with transparent
colors, or these may be applied upon the distinct ground glass, or other
the like substance, if such be used, by first tracing the design thereon,
so that when the two surfaces are placed together the several colors
shall coincide with the intended portions of the design. These colors
should be ground very fine, and rendered transparent by any of the
known methods. It will be obvious that stained glass may be used, if
desired, either wholly or with borders or other stained portions only.
I have in the above description alluded particularly to glass, as the
surface upon which the design is to be formed; other substances, how-
ever, which will transmit sufficient light for the intended purpose may be
used, thin porcelain for instance, or paper sufficiently thin to be partially
transparent, or rendered so by the application of wax, oil, varnish, or
other suitable substance, and cemented to glass or otherwise applied;
and although the effect may not be so good on some of these, the
advantage is still gained of being able to produce a number of copies
from one original, varying in size and arrangement, according to the
intended purpose of application. In using paper for this purpose it may
be made non-absorbent by oil, varnish, &c., and coated with a sensitive
surface of collodion, albumen, or such like substance upon which the
design may be taken. In using paper or other thin partially transparent
material, the plan of joining separate parts so as to form one intended
design, as before alluded to, may be adopted, successive portions of the
whole being cut out and fitted to each other.

page_text: In speaking of windows I do not, of course, suppose that in all cases
the whole of a window is to be ornamented. In domestic windows, for
instance, but one pane only may have the photographic design; and
where it is applied to a window already in use the glass already there
may remain, and the ornamented surface be placed within the frame.
In order to protect the designs from injury a sufficient coat of varnish
may be applied; or a sheet of plain glass, or the ground glass above
alluded to, adapted, fastened at the edges or cemented over its whole
surface with balsam, as is now commonly practised in joining together
two glass surfaces.
It will be obvious that my Invention may be applied to windows of
any description, whether arranged for the passage of direct natural or
artificial light, or borrowed light, in which latter case they may be used
also as screens. In reference to lamps, also, I desire it to be under-
stood that I do not allude to any particular description thereof, as my
Invention may be applied to those used for the table, for suspension
(sometimes called hall lanterns), shop fronts, or for other purposes, nor
do I confine myself to the particular processes and methods of application
above mentioned.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, 1
desire it to be understood that I claim as secured to me the production
by photographic processes of designs upon glass or other transparent
or partially transparent substances for windows and lamps.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tudor Mabley, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three
WILLIAM TUDOR MABLEY. (LS.)