Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Resolved Paperweight Queries => Topic started by: ian.macky on March 27, 2005, 04:37:06 AM
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[Mod: This thread contains varied discussion on Patents, glass blocks etc. The details are left as they are since it would be difficult to separate into discreet topics. This note added Oct 2011]
Can anyone ID this piece of glass? It's clear, round, 2 1/8" diameter by 1 15/16" high, embossed (upside-down when the flat base is down) "PATD OCT 2ND 1866". Not fully solid, the base has a depression. Seems like a desk magnifier-- works well for viewing non-flat objects since they can occupy the space-- good for coins, bugs, etc. Alas, the USPTO still cannot search for anything but patent# and classification for old patents, and there are a couple hundred issued on that day.
(http://glassian.org/GMB/magnifier.jpg)
Thanks for your time!
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Hi Ian,
Welcome to the GMB. I am delighted that you have become a member.
To those not acquainted with Ian, just browse around his amazing website.
As to your eclectic object, could it be some form of focussing device for concentrating light on a small area, like a lacemaker's lamp?
You are probably more familiar with lettering punched into moulds than most. I take it that there is no evidence in the font that would help determine its origin. Don't forget that various countries in the old British Empire had patent offices, including your native Australia, although the early date of 1866 could eliminate some of them.
You will be pleased to know I have re-opened my eBay account after a thorough security review of my systems and procedures.
Bernard C. 8)
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Since it has Patent info embossed I would suggest it's not a paperweight as patented items tend to have rather more "intended functionality" than paperweights.
Of course, these days, collectors and other folk might buy such items as paperweights, or claim them to be "paperweight-related".
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Hi Bernard, Frank, David, et al.... glad you find my site interesting. it's an entirely different area of glass, something we're usually familiar with but overlook. People here don't recognize insulators on the shelf, but take them outsite and point at a telephone/power pole and they get it. In the UK, porcelain was king so you'll not see any glass telegraph or telephone insulators; suspension insulators yes (Pilkington, EIV, Sediver, etc). Likewise a vault light in captivity draws a blank, but "remember those grids of square purple glass blocks set in downtown sidewalks" almost always rings a bell.
Bernard, back in the eBay saddle again, good. I have a hexagonal Hayward Bros. vault light wending its way from Canada right this minute, so yours will have a friend. Also have a St. Pancras light now, so the UK collection is starting to shape up (everything's up from NIL).
Re the thingy: the embossing is hand engraved in a typical save-effort sans-serif font, very much like insulators of the period. Yes, it's strange that a paperweight/magnifier would have the patent date on it, especially upside-down. I am assuming it's a US patent-- the form of the patent declaration is typical, and don't they say "Registered" in the UK? Of course there are other countries too, but it smells American to me. The original owner thought it was a paperweight, but then changed his mind when he got it. I thought it might be a vault light, so bought it from him. Seems we're both wrong, but it's an interesting piece nonetheless. Seems optical one way or another, but isn't designed to be attached easily, which is why I'm leaning toward desk magnifier.
I will go the library and use their fast connection to page through all 200+ patents of that date and see what I find. I did check the optics classes I could identify, but didn't find anything from the right time-period. When I win the lottery I will pay a big team to make a proper patent#/date/inventor/title index of the USPO, all N millions of them.
Cheers...
--ian
P.S. Chips in vault lights are not a problem, usually it's a dream to find any new pattern, even a specimen (Bernard's light is slobber-inducing to all 3 of us who collect them). I only have a dozen or so different kinds out of the hundreds patented. They are very rare and getting more so, since the old ones are just smashed when removed, not saved. They're usually set in steel and concrete, so removal is very difficult. In the UK you can find entire panels of the set-in-iron kind at architectural salvage places, but they typically want £500+ for them. (salvo.co.uk has some Haywards listed, and retrouvius.com has some unidentified types). The cost of shipping entire panels to the US would be just a bit stiff, alas.
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(Bernard's light is slobber-inducing to all 3 of us who collect them
Is that a Hayward Bros. vault light? I'm only quoting that name from Ian, and have no idea what one is. Bernard? Is there any chance of a pic of the mystical item?
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Pictures of Bernard's Hayward Bros light are still up in the Garage Sale. --ian
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More photographs at http://www.peninsulators.org —> Prism Glass —> UK —> Hayward —> Product Pics. Click on any of these images in either location to enlarge.
Please note that the Light Flow Diagram is an approximation drawn from observation, and does not take into account light entering the top at other angles.
Bernard C. 8)
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Thanks Ian and Bernard :D
So...pavement lights. Is Bernards' Hayward one special because it's semi prismatic? Otherwise, surely they're quite common, aren't they? I hope I'm not being rude - it's just a mystery to me!
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Max — it's not like that at all. Most people have no concept of beauty or heritage when it comes to street furniture and external architectural fittings. When dug up or removed, usually unnecessarily, they get smashed up, go in the skip and get dumped in land fill.
Does your town or village have a complete inventory of all such items? I bet it doesn't. Does your community offer grant assistance towards the cost of restoration? No, of course not. Much better to spend your local taxes on new Victorian rubbish bins and twee brick paving that won't last five years.
Bernard C. :(
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Max--
Vault/pavement lights are not common any more, and becoming scarcer all the time. The older type set in iron can be removed as a unit and you see those at salvage yards sometimes, but the type set in concrete (locked in with steel) can't be removed as easily. Usually, the demo contractor just bashes them to bits and throws them out! Occasionally you find NOS ones, leftover from the initial installations. In general, they are very hard to come by. Bernard's piece is quite unusual, the first of its kind I've seen. But, it's still early for me in the research phase, so many patterns are still new to me. Hayward Bros was very big in vault lights, a pioneer, so their glass is particularly desirable. Don't know why I'm talking it up like this since I'm just going to make life harder when bidding time comes!
--ian
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I like these sort of things. Having collected light bulbs and viewed them as glass archaeology I suppose it is not surprising - I was planning to bid on Bernard's lump but got foiled :cry: Glad to hear you are up and running again Bernard.
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All--
For those of you interested in old architectural glass, here's something to keep an eye out for. It's the only one I've seen, and quite historically important. This one came out of Poland. It's about 8" or so long, thick glass BIM with a glass seal to make it airtight.
(http://peninsulators.org/GMB/falconnier.jpg)
I'll post the solution anon.
--ian
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Another view or two please... :lol:
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This is the usual fate of vault lights:
(http://peninsulators.org/GMB/smashed.jpg)
(Photo credit Brandon Hartle)
--ian
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Another view or two please...
This top view rather gives it away... but it's packed deep now so I can't take a more circumspect shot:
(http://peninsulators.org/GMB/falconnier2.jpg)
Here's the seal:
(http://peninsulators.org/GMB/falconnier_seal.jpg)
All these photos are from the original seller.
--ian
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Googled straight to your site!
Never of guessed :) Were they ever used in any quantity?
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Googled straight to your site!
Sorry Frank, can't award any points for looking it up on my own site! :wink:
As the glass, my reference material is also packed. I believe they were successful at the time, but can't be more definitive at present.
Extremely rare now. If you see one, grab it!
--ian
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Sorry Frank, can't award any points for looking it up on my own site! :wink:
Huh, :? - but it was google's fault!
Another reference http://www.glassblocks.co.uk/history.htm :roll:
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I looked at all 204 US patents issued Oct 2, 1866, and did not find a match. :sad: But, that was just after a quick perusal of the first drawing sheets. Will have to go back over the possibles (lamps etc) and check in more depth. FYI, here are the patents issued on that date:
58362 steam-boiler condenser
58363 pen rack
58364 shoe fastening
58365 paper fastener
58366 sewing machine
58367 skate
58368 chain pump
58369 fence gate
58370 improved composition for removing ink from type
58371 improved medical compound for hog-cholera
58372 cotton-planter
58373 hot air furnace
58374 flour and grain preserver
58375 soda water apparatus
58376 ruffling attachment for sewing machines
58377 improvement in the manufacture of water-proof hose
58378 clothes-line reel
58379 improved method of burning oil for fuel
58380 wheel-cultivator
58381 cotton-planter
58382 lightning rod
58383 parallel-cultivator
58384 gang-plow
58385 potato-planter
58386 wheel-plow
58387 kitchen table
58388 corkscrew
58389 wheel-cultivator
58390 potato digger
58391 pressing hats
58392 lantern
58393 gas purifier
58394 spring bed bottom
58395 wheel-plow
58396 coffee pot
58397 wind wheel
58398 oven for gas cook stoves
58399 sewing machine shuttle
58400 water closet
58401 hay and grain protector
58402 oar lock
58403 surgical splint
58404 fish hook
58405 door spring
58406 skirt elevator
58407 stone pavement
58408 casting tinners' solder
58409 lubricator
58410 ornamenting glass
58411 snow and ice guard for roofs
58412 horse hay rake
58413 excavator
58414 neck ties
58415 churn
58416 bilge water discharging
58417 mucilage bottle
58418 car coupling
58419 clothes-line fastener
58420 sponge cup
58421 improved composition for paint
58422 automatic feed for carburetors
58423 improved composition for destroying insects
58424 sad iron heater
58425 process of seasoning wood
58426 oyster rake
58427 watch
58428 card rack
58429 billiars register
58430 belt buckle
58431 revolving moldboard
58432 fence
58433 let-off and take-up
58434 silk twisting mach[ine]
58435 stone channelling mach[ine]
58436 hollow auger
58437 bedstead fastening
58438 stone pick and axe
58439 induction coils for electro magnets
58440 skate
58441 shutter fastening
58442 lid lifter
58443 gun lock
58444 breech-loading fire-arm
58445 bale tie
58446 making wood screws
58447 car wheel
58448 railway car
58449 cask
58450 cask
58451 cask
58452 cask
58453 combined foot warmer and reflecting lamp
58454 improvement in prepared paste
58455 spice box
58456 wood plane attachment
58457 sand pump
58458 improved paint for ships' bottoms
58459 lamp
58460 spider [cooking pan]
58461 shutter fastener
58462 folding table
58463 alphabet frame
58464 narrow ware
58465 thill-coupling
58466 box mach[ine]
58467 bag lock
58468 well packing
58469 well packing
58470 pinking mach[ine]
58471 apparatus for carbureting air
58472 cleansing sorgo sirup
58473 cutting soap
58474 furnace-grate bar
58475 storing oil
58476 cultivator
58477 heating stove
58478 reciprocating steam engine
58479 well tubing
58480 whip-rack
58481 lamp
58482 paper cutting mach[ine]
58483 machine for making spikes
58484 improved roofing material
58485 machine for forging horseshoe nails
58486 hand seeder
58487 ore separator
58488 bendng wood
58489 turn table for baker's ovens
58490 till check
58491 governor
58492 signal for railroad draw bridge
58493 cooking stove
58494 furnace-grate bar
58495 horseshoe
58496 steam heater
58497 improvement in the manufacture of floor-coverings
58498 circular sewing machine
58499 improved roofing-cement
58500 shovel plow
58501 setting gems
58502 fruit can
58503 globe valve
58504 edge-tool grinder
58505 corset
58506 steam-boiler fire-tube
58507 splitting wood
58508 shaving leather
58509 tuyere
58510 baby jumper
58511 preserving meat
58512 oil still
58513 pressing hats
58514 cider mill
58515 washing machine
58516 improvement in engraving copper, &c.
58517 clover harvester
58518 coffee pot
58519 bench dog
58520 horse shoe nail machine
58521 machine for making split spikes
58522 domestic oven
58523 furniture caster
58524 lamp burner
58525 breech-loading fire-arm
58526 cotton press
58527 hoopskirt
58528 peat machine
58529 sheep rack
58530 water cooler
58531 cherry stoner
58532 improved composition of matter
58533 cultivator-teeth
58534 cultivator
58535 clothes line fastener
58536 match box
58537 cigar lighter
58538 cigar press
58539 ore mill
58540 hoop skirt clasp
58541 derrick
58542 shifting rail for carriage seat
58543 rotary cultivator
58544 pressing hats
58545 bed bottom
58546 steam gage cock
58547 horse power
58548 bag lock
58549 coal chute
58550 cast-off of waxed thread sewing machines
58551 grain screen
58552 steam-boiler furnace
58553 gas retort
58554 method of opening tin cans
58555 pressing [clothes?]
58556 wood oiling machine
58557 seed planter
58558 eraser
58559 apparatus for carbureting air
58560 potato digger
58561 bosoms
58562 improvement in signal-codes for electric telegraphs
58563 paper cutter
58564 steam-boiler fire-tube
58565 constructing railroad tracks
--ian
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Ian — 58492 signal for railroad draw bridge looks very interesting.
Bernard C. 8)
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Ian — 58492 signal for railroad draw bridge looks very interesting.
Yes, that and the lamps are on my shortlist. I've since read 58492 and it's mostly to do with interlocking the signal and the draw bridge such that the bridge cannot be raised (or rotated) without the signal first being given, and likewise preventing the signal from being withdrawn while the bridge is open.
My invention relates to the signals which indicate when the bridge is open, and which are relied on to avert most deplorable accidents.
The signal devices are a red ball (or red expanding umbrella-like device) for day-time use, and ordinary lanterns in red and white for night-time use. No mention of glass, optics, or anything aside from generic "lanterns". This doesn't seem like a fit, alas.
Will keep looking.
--ian
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Ian — ... and now for something completely different. Channel 4 television here in the UK has recently launched a new and fascinating series of short links between advertisements and programmes. These are set in unlikely situations. The scene looks slightly odd. As the camera pans round this scene all the components gradually interlock to form a "4" and then unlock into randomness again.
One of these is formed from electricity pylons, complete with glass insulators. You would love it. I can't find it on the Internet. You might.
Bernard C. 8)
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What about these:
58396 coffee pot
58518 coffee pot
When I first saw the piece, I thought about the glass domes on the top of perculators.
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58396 coffee pot
58518 coffee pot
No go, they're just coffee pots. Checked all three lamps too, they're just lamps. This is not the first time I've looked at every single patent for a given date and found no match for an item claimed to be patented that day. Don't know what to make of this. Is it possible it's not US?
American inspired "4"s include skyscrapers (New York?), and a roadside diner.
Sounds like an optical illusion sculpture, an impossible 3D shape like an Escher drawing, but only looks right from one position-- from any other angle you can see it's not a continuous object. Alas, I gave up TV years ago, don't miss the 99% drivel, but do miss the occasional 1% of good stuff. I miss NOVA mostly. The Secret Life of Machines was good-- was that what it was called?
Well, my whatzit is definitely a whatzit. I will put it in my whatzit gallery and throw it open to the universe. I think it's a desk magnifier for small objects, not just flat stuff.
Question:
What is the standard form of patent embossing on UK glass? Is it "Registered" instead of "Patented"?
--ian
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Registered is only used for design protection and unlike patents needs regular renewals. Items would be marked with Regd. Diamond or the word Regd. or Reg. No. or Registered and a number or not.
Patented items could have Patent, Patent Applied For, Patent Pending or Patent followed by a number.
Patent dates could be the patent application date or the patent approval date and possibly one or two other dates could be used. Prior to about 1920 UK patents were numbered from 1 annually and are often noted as 1905/123 for example.
That is all from memory so might not be 100% accurate nor complete.
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Frank-- so, "PAT<super>D</super> OCT 2<super>ND</super> 1866" is a reasonable-looking embossing for UK glass? [Nuts, HTML superscript is not working.] I've experienced the old each-year-starts-over-at-1 UK system, it's pretty painful. --ian
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Ian — as I said before, your whatzit's patent lettering could well be a UK patent, or a patent from other bits of the old British Empire; suggest Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, and South Africa if you get no joy from London, although 1866 seems to me to be rather early for all of them. I think you might find that all of these old bits of Empire relied upon the London Patent Office then.
And, while on the subject, what happened to the two Hayward design registrations I told you about early last year? — I can't find any mention on your Hayward pages. Did the email go walkabout? Do you want it again? I know you received the Edmonton insulators registrations okay including the third, unknown registration.
HTML is not available on this board, despite it saying that it is. However, the &... and &#... character actors work fine, but only once. If you edit your reply you have to put them back in again. This is useful for square brackets in samples of BBCode, showing others how to use it.
Bernard C. 8)
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I think you might find that all of these old bits of Empire relied upon the London Patent Office then.
Alas, alack, "Due to technical problems accessing images concerning specific patents, we have reluctantly had to suspend the GB esp@cenet service until further notice." I checked the other esp@cenet databases and they turned up 0 records for date 18661002, which smells suspicious. If only I had a set of Woodcroft abridgements!
Bernard, as to the two Hayward design registrations, I think they are gone. When I got laid off at work, they only gave me a couple hours to vacate my computer and it wasn't nearly enough time. I lost the bulk of my email, and only saved what had been filed on my home computer. I couldn't find that mail in my prism glass folder, so it must have been still at work. Could you possibly re-send? Sorry for the trouble.
Yes, I did receive the Edmonton insulator registrations, and passed them along to the insulators mailing list, but your original mail on that topic has been black-holed too. :evil: !()#$! :evil: work :evil: Am trying to recover my original mail from the ICON archive now.
Presumably BBC code just is a simple mapping to HTML? Can it be modified? Easy enough then to add [super][/super].
--ian
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Hi Ian,
Modifying the BBCode is possible but not really do able here. That requires time and geekery. Better spent on glass! REGd gets the message across :|
The esp database only really covers from 1920 so it needs an actual visit to the patent office to get the earlier ones. Although some earlier ones are on there and it is on and off line with great monotony. Sometimes you can find US, German and French patents for an invention but not their UK equivalent and others vice-versa.
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Ian et al —
Found this in the Collins Dictionary and Encyclopaedia of Ornithology, 2nd edition, 1992:
falcon(n)ier, f. -iere — 1. An individual involved with the conservation and/or management of falcons for reasons other than the sport of faconry (q.v.), such as bird pest control on farmland, airports, and in towns and cities.
— 2. (m. form only) An artificial nesting platform, typically a two sided box with a retaining ledge or rim on the other two sides, placed high on buildings in towns or on poles on farmland by a falconnier (q.v. 1.) to encourage resident breeding populations of falcons. Also an insulating base for such a platform when positioned atop electricity supply cable poles to prevent nesting debris causing power loss.
Bernard C. 8)
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Bernard, got your re-sends, thanks much, they're on my local hard drive now, which is relatively safe. Until I post to my site and the Internet Archiver picks them up, they're not really safe. Has everyone checked out the Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/web/web.php)?
Dictionary of Ornithology... well, falcon, falconnier, I hadn't thought it might be a real word instead of a proper name. Perhaps it's a family name based on an old trade, Baker, Smith, Fisher, etc? The glass thing's not related to falconry however-- it's architecural. Nice add'l information, tho.
In case anyone hasn't gotten it yet, the Falconnier thing is an early hollow glass building block:
http://peninsulators.org/GMB/falconnier.gif
This page is from Glass in Architecture and Decoration (Raymond McGrath, A. C. Frost and H. E. Beckett), an unbelievably good reference book. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it about a 23. If you don't have one, recommend BookFinder.com (http://BookFinder.com) for a meta-book-finder, it seems to be the most complete.
I need one of those diamond-pattern Falconnier blocks, but as I've said, they're rare. So far I've seen zero on eBay, and was lucky my site references them (in the patent index), as someone with a single block for sale found me and came calling.
--ian
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Another odd bit of glass, bird bath.
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7479&item=6522021401
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Frank, would that be used inside a birdcage rather than outside do you think?
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Frank, if you think that's odd, check this out:
GLASS WINDOW SASH PULLEYS/GUIDES 1863 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7310809127)
--ian
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Yup, that is very different but a good material for the job.
The birdbath would hang over the open door outside the cage - I would have thought that they must have been made quite a lot in pre-plastic days.
It is certainly interesting to step away from the ordinary uses of glass.
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Now for some glass content: here's another nice piece of glass I won: HUGE NEW ENGLAND SANDWICH GLASS ARCHITECTURAL TILE 1850 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7306688497). It appears to me to be a skylight tile, based on similarities to my Luxfer skylight tile (of known provenance). I think it's not strong enough for pavement use. Nice piece of glass, very thick and heavy. More glass is better, neh?
--ian
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Seems to have been a popular tile, did they produce many designs? So now we have glass walls, doors, windows, ceilings, floors, pet housing and infrastructure components. To which could be added electric heater, lighting, staircases and of course kitchen and tableware.
The possibility of a totally glass house would seem to be realistic today. There are also some new conductive glasses that can replace much of the electrical components. We just lack a soft safe flexible glass for furnishings, what a pity the fabled Roman flexible glass has been lost.
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Ian - This is a very nice glass "tile". I love to see glass used architecturally - especially buildings with glass skylights / domes / roofs where there are glass panels to let in the light. Shame to many of them are left to go green and gungy - when new and/or clean they look wonderful. Glass bricks have been used in one of the new car park entrances also near me - so much nicer than a blank concrete wall! Shame there isn't more glass used imaginatively - rather than just huge sheets of plain glass in concrete boxes. :(
Your glass window sash cord pieces were very interesting - I've never seen any like those before.
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Greetings to all,
The inscription is unusual for in many countries of the World patents are described by a number, not a date. This concept is used in most countries that formed part of the old British Empire; as shown on that intriguing object "Mr Lillicrap's Hone" which has several Patent numbers on it (no years).
In the UK patents are numbered consequentially from "1" on the first day of each year, there to identify a patent taken out in the UK you need to know the year and number.
Although just to prove that when ever anyone descibes how a sytem should be worked, an example such as Lillicrap's Hone comes along that shows how the rules were ignored.
So maybe an US patent is correct - I don't know what form they take.
Design Registrations on the other hand are numbered from the start of the series and thus a number is sufficient to identify them. This is of course after the 'diamond' registration series ended in 1884.
About the object, it reminds me of a bulkhead light diffuser as used in ships etc to bring light (normally sunlight) to the interior of a hold or similar space. The modern version are those light tubes that smart designers are using for buildings. However as this item as a depression then maybe it was used with an artificial light source.
Hope this text is illuminative and not diffusing the matter further.
Geoff
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Lillicrap's Hone
Another interesting use of glass...
http://user.tninet.se/~uqv930t/vassare/stropp6.htm#Lillicraps%20hone
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Frank: I doubt it was soft, but as for flexible, I visited the Corning Museum many years ago and they had large glass springs on display that must have been compressed and released by thousands of visitors every year. The museum suffered considerable flood damage some years back, but anyone interested in glass, Steuben in particular, that gets anywhere near Corning, NY and does not visit, deserves to be flogged.
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Seems to have been a popular tile, did they produce many designs?
This is the only one I've seen so far. Who knows who made it or when-- "Sandwich" is one of those terms used fairly indiscriminantly. Presumably s'wich + early date hooked a bunch of people. My two Luxfer skylight tiles are the only two survivors from a trashed installation-- once again, the wrecking ball just pulverized it. That's why architectural glass is so much more scarce than decorative glass. They were recovered from a dumpster (tip)! Here it is:
(http://peninsulators.org/Prism/Luxfer/skytop.jpg)
The possibility of a totally glass house would seem to be realistic today.
You might be interested in Dr. Willem van der Heyden's all-glass house of 1891, built in Meiji, Japan. Pedro Guedes has written a paper about it. Before-its-time is stating it mildly.
About the object, it reminds me of a bulkhead light diffuser as used in ships etc to bring light (normally sunlight) to the interior of a hold or similar space. The modern version are those light tubes that smart designers are using for buildings. However as this item as a depression then maybe it was used with an artificial light source.
Hope this text is illuminative and not diffusing the matter further.
Deck prisms! Yes, predecessor to prism tiles, vault lights, etc. It's because I thought it might be a vault light that I bought it. But, does not appear to be so. It's not designed to be set in iron or concrete. So far I've seen ONE original hexagonal deck prism on eBay, and I utterly blew the sniping (local computer clock wrong). I grieve every day for missing the opportunity. It hurts!
The stropper is very interesting, thanks for that. Here's another type of glass I collect, often mis-identified (like this one):
GREEN DEPRESSION Glass REFRIGERATOR TRAY ESB Co RARE (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7308907827)
No, it's not kitchenware. Anyone care to hazard a guess? The #7 appears to be the most common size-- I already have two, so didn't pursue it.
My Hayward Bros hexagonal pavement light arrived from Canada today! My first H.B. light, and the one shown in their revolutionary patent application of 1871!
--ian
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I presume the description 'refrigerator' is wrong, the feet look like battery rests that I have so is it a big one?
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What is this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7311672995
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You might be interested in Dr. Willem van der Heyden's all-glass house of 1891, built in Meiji, Japan. Pedro Guedes has written a paper about it. Before-its-time is stating it mildly.
Can find no references on the net?
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What is this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7311672995
it is what dentists sterilise their drill bits in.
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I presume the description 'refrigerator' is wrong, the feet look like battery rests that I have so is it a big one?
Very good-- it is indeed battery-related. It's a battery tray; it would have been filled with sand, and a glass battery jar sat in it. I have an early one where the embossing was right in the middle of the bottom where, um, you can't see it once the jar is in place. The old embossing is blotted out and it's on the rim now. The early one also had ground feet, an extra production step they omitted in later models. I haven't made a gallery of my other battery glass yet, in particular the battery legs are very interesting. Did you say you have some battery rests? The UK type (http://peninsulators.org/Battery/British/index.html) are fairly different than the US type (http://peninsulators.org/Battery/American/index.html). Did you say you have some battery rests? Have any pictures?
Can find no references on the net?
Presumably you tried and failed? The answer is no. There are great swaths of information that are not available online, huge libraries of paper yet to be digitized.
it is what dentists sterilise their drill bits in
There's another speciality for you: medical glass, or even more specifically, dental glass. Has everyone seen the Biddle tray? It's an unusual piece of Fry glass, a rectangular piece in their opal glass with depressions for tools. I've been looking for one for years. Soon after I started looking, one appeared on eBay, so I figured they weren't that tough and I'd watch it go by and see what it fetched. Turns out to have been a fluke, there's not been another one since, just the one (it sold for $300).
--ian
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They will be off to eBay soonish.
(http://www.ysartglass.com/ebay/batteryrest.jpg)
From left to right:
1x Unipart - U10 x1 - 1 1 1/16" diameter, green/aqua - Chipped along half of outer edge and centre button which might just be a mould snap. Base is corrugated.
Bottoms
2x B10 1 1/4" diameter - 1 pale green, 1 clear
2x B20 1 5/8" diameter - 2 different mouldings, 1 pale green/aqua 1 very pale
Tops
4x T20 1 7/8" diameter - 4 (3 identical one marginally different) pale green aqua
2x T30 2 7/16" diameter - 2 pale green
Will I get $300 for them? :lol:
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Will I get $300 for them?
Possibly! There are a few people who collect battery rests, tho mostly they stick with US ones. You've got one there I don't have, the unipart in aqua (I just have clear). The U and B and T codes I just made up myself, so noone will know what they mean unless you point them to my site. Will you be listing them in the Insulators category?
--ian
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I should think so, the listing does include a link to your site.
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Can anyone ID this piece of glass? It's clear, round, 2 1/8" diameter by 1 15/16" high, embossed (upside-down when the flat base is down) "PATD OCT 2ND 1866". Not fully solid, the base has a depression. Seems like a desk magnifier-- works well for viewing non-flat objects since they can occupy the space-- good for coins, bugs, etc. Alas, the USPTO still cannot search for anything but patent# and classification for old patents, and there are a couple hundred issued on that day.
I was taking new pics of this for my "whatsits" gallery and thought I'd re-Google : got a hit this time, with a picture of a complete unit. It's a paperweight, and there is supposed to be a plaster insert (which is missing in mine). A picture of a complete one that sold at auction is here (http://www.auctionflex.com/showlot.ap?co=45242&weid=8379&weiid=3433967&mindate=19900101&maxdate=20501231&lso=lotnumasc&pagenum=8&lang=En) (auctionflex.com). It has a George Washington plaster medallion and is in better shape than mine ("Undamaged with some very light scratches to crown"). Sales price was $220 + 15% premium.
Description reads "GEORGE WASHINGTON PAPERWEIGHT, intricately molded plaster base depicting a profile of Washington within a wreath, above a spread-wing eagle, cherub on either side, Roman numerals for 1776 above and "First in War, First in Peace, First in the Hearts of his Countrymen" underneath, exterior edge molded ""PATD OCT 2ND 1866". United States. 1866-1876. Height: 1 7/8 in. diameter: 2 3/4 in."
Still don't know what the patent refers to. Tried and failed to locate it again.
--ian
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That is a surprising result! But fits with your first thought!