AN IMPROVED MODE OF COATING OR COVERING, OR OF COATING, COVERING, AND ORNAMENTING, THE SURFACES OF ARTICLES WHICH ARE OR MAY BE MADE OF WROUGHT IRON, OR OF OTHER METAL OR METALS, WHICH IMPROVED MODE MAY BE USED IN SUBSTITUTION OF JAPANNING, TINNING, OR OTHER MODES NOW IN COMMON USE, OF COATING, COVERING, OR OF COATING, COVERING, AND ORNAMENTING SUCH ARTICLES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WALTON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Japanner and Tin
Plate Worker, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did, by Petition, humbly represent unto Her present most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, that I had invented "AN IMPROVED MODE
OF COATING OR COVERING, OR OF COATING, COVERING, AND ORNAMENTING, THE
SURFACES OF ARTICLES WHICH ARE OR MAY BE MADE OF WROUGHT IRON, OR OF
OTHER METAL OR METALS, WHICH IMPROVED MODE MAY BE USED IN SUBSTITUTION
OF JAPANNING, TINNING, OR OTHER MODES NOW IN COMMON USE, OF COATING,
COVERING, OR OF COATING, COVERING, AND ORNAMENTING SUCH ARTICLES;" and
Her said Majesty being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions
which may be for the public good, was graciously pleased, by Her Royal
Letters Patent under. the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February (One thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven), in the tenth year of Her reign, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, to give and grant unto me, the said Frederick
Walton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I or they, by myself and themselves,
or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I
or they should agree with, and no others, during the term of fourteen years
from the date of the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully might make

page_text: use, exercise and vend my said Invention within that part of Her said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as
to me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, shall seem meet, and as
that I and they should enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising by reason
of the said Invention during the said term of fourteen years. And whereas
the said Letters Patent contain a proviso obliging me, the said Frederick
Walton, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said. Letters Patent, as in and by the
same (reference being thereunto had), will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Frederick Walton, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described
and ascertained in manner following, and by the aid of the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
My improved mode of coating or covering (or of coating, covering, and
ornamenting,) the surfaces of articles which are or may be made of wrought
iron, or of other metal or metals, is performed by coating or covering such
surfaces with successive coats of partially vitrified (and vitrified) earthy mate-
rials (such as herein-after described), for the purpose of forming a glazed
enamelled surface bearing & resemblance to that of glazed earthenware, and
which surface may be ornamented with printing or painting in colours, and
with gilding, if desired, of the same kind or similar in appearance to the orna-
mented surfaces of earthenware. The articles which are to be so coated or
covered or ornamented, according to my said improved mode, may be made of
wrought iron or other malleable metal or metals which will withstand a strong
red heat without injury (such as brass or copper), the making of such articles
being performed by any of the usual modes of cutting out of laminated or
sheet metal and hammering or stamping and otherwise forming to the required
shape for the intended article by aid of all or any of the various modes well
known and commonly practised by the makers of articles of malleable metals,
except that the more fusible metals, which will not withstand a strong red
heat, such as tin, lead, and zinc, or pewter, or Britannia metal, are not fit to be
used for making such articles or any part thereof, and therefore, tinning and
soldering with soft solder is not applicable for coating or for uniting together or
securing the parts of the said articles; but in case of an article which cannot
conveniently be formed of one piece of metal (which is to be prepared), then

page_text: the several pieces or parts thereof must be united together or strengthened by
all or any of the well-known modes of overlapping, turning down the edges,
wiring, creasing, and hammering down, or by rivetting or dovetailing, as may
be most suitable for the article; and in case of soldering being resorted to, it
must be hard soldering with brass or spelter usually termed brazing; and by
any or all the means aforesaid articles are to be made of wrought iron or other
malleable metal or metals in the same manner as if they were intended to be
japanned, painted, varnished, lacquered, or tinned, except that tinning and
soldering with soft solder is inapplicable in the making of the articles, but
when made they must be capable of withstanding a strong red heat without
being injured thereby. And, as a first preparation for cleaning the surfaces of
the articles so made, they are to be subjected to a full red heat, by placing them
in a suitable annealing oven or furnace, which may be of the same kind as is
commonly used for annealing articles of stamped metal or for annealing metal
for being stamped, a number of articles of the same shape and size being
piled up one upon another when in such furnace, in order that they may
better keep their form; and sand may be interposed between the articles so
piled up. For small articles, they may be heated in a muffle such as herein-after
described, into which flame does not enter. And after having been so kept at
a full red heat for about half an hour the articles are either withdrawn from
the oven or furnace or muffle, and allowed to cool, or clse the oven or furnace
or muffle, with the articles in it, may be allowed to cool, and the articles after-
wards removed from it. And by the said heating all liquid or semi-liquid or
greasy matter will have been dissipated, and tho surfaces of the articles will
have become oxydated; and then all oxyde or scale is to be removed from tho
surfaces of the articles by rubbing them with sandstone for the plain and acces-
sible parts, and with worn-out files, or with scrapers or other suitable tools for
the less accessible places; or articles of such a truly circular or elliptic form as
to admit of being turned in a lathe may be mounted in a chuck, and turned
round therewith, whilst a broad pointed tool is presented to every part of the
revolving surface in succession suitably for turning, scraping, or removing all loose
scale or oxyde, leaving the surface of the metal smooth and even, without being
necessary to be quite bright or polished. The articles being thus rendered per-
fectly clean are ready to receive the first cont or covering of partially vitrifiable
materials (the composition whereof is herein-after stated), and which is applied
to the surfaces of the articles in a semi-liquid state, which state results from
the materials having been ground very fine when in mixture with water to the
consistence of thick, cream, and then carefully strained through fine lawn, a
Suitable quantity of such semi-liquid is poured out from a ladle or spoon upon

page_text: the surface of the article, whilst it is held over a large basin or vessel contain-
ing the semi-liquid, and by holding the article in the hands with the surface
inclined to the horizontal the semi-liquid which has been so poured out
thereon will run slowly and gradually downwards along the inclining surface,
so as to spread itself out and cover the same, the article being slowly turned
about and inclined in different directions in succession, in order to cause the
semi-liquid to run in different directions in succession over the surface, until
the whole is completely covered, and with a coating of uniform thickness, and
all surplus of the semi-liquid is drained off therefrom down into the basin or
vessel, care being taken to avoid air bubbles or specks of defective places in
the coating, by care in the previous preparation, grinding, and straining of the
semi-liquid, to keep it free from all lumps and coarse particles, and afterwards
to avoid violent stirring or splashing of the semi-liquid so as to get air
intermixed with it, but stirring it with a gentle motion, and also taking care
to avoid splashing when taking up with a ladle or spoon a quantity rather
greater than will be required for covering the surface of the article, and when
pouring out on that surface as aforesaid. And the said operation of covering
the surface of the article with the semi-liquid will be facilitated by being
performed in a warm room, and by the article being rather warmer than
the semi-liquid itself, but not so as to feel hot to the hand, in which
it is held, and such warmth of the room and of the article will dispose
the semi-liquid covering after it has been spread as aforesaid over-the surface
of the article to begin to dry on that surface so far in a short time
as not to run or move thereon; and then the drying is to be completed
by placing the article in an ordinary japanner's stove, which is kept heated
to a temperature of about one hundred and eighty degrees, and the article is
left therein until all moisture is gradually dried away from the semi-liquid
covering, leaving the same in a state of dry whitish covering, which adheres
sufficiently to the surface of the article for keeping its place thereon, but
would nevertheless be easily rubbed off if touched rudely by the fingers. The
composition of materials which I have found most suitable for the aforesaid
first coating may be prepared as follows:-Take 6 parts by weight, for instance,
pounds or any other convenient weight of flint glass, broken into small
fragments, and 8 like parts of the ordinary borax of commerce, and 1 part of
red lead, and 1 part of oxide of tin. Those four ingredients, being in the
state of coarse powders, are to be well mixed together by pounding them
together in an iron mortar, and then the mixture is to be fitted in the same
manner as is usually done with the materials for making glass; "that is to say, the
mixture is subjected to a strong heat in a reverberatory furnace, in which heat

page_text: the mixture is kept for three or four hours or more, being frequently stirred
and turned over to expose every part to the flame, and more effectually mix
the ingredients, and expel or destroy all volatile matter, and at the latter part
of the time the heat is increased until a partial melting or semi-vitrification
has commenced, and then the whole is withdrawn from the furnace in a pasty
state, and let fall into water, in order to be suddenly cooled, whereby it
becomes cracked, so as to be afterwards easily broken into small fragments
or coarse powder, which is called fritt, for the first body or coat, but which
fritt is only for one of the ingredients in the composition of that first coat,
for 1 part by weight of such fritt is to bo mixed with 2 like parts of
calcined bone ground to powder, and the mixture of fritt and bone is then
to be ground with water in a mill called a porcelain mill, because it is used
for grinding the materials used for making porcelain, and which kind of
mill operates by trituration of the materials with water between chert stones
or other hard silecious stones, whereof some are fixed at the bottom of a tub
or vessel, containing water having the materials mixed therewith, and other
such stones rest by their own weight upon the said fixed stones, and are carried
round thereon with a circular motion communicated by the moving part of
the mill, so as to rub over the fixed stones, and grind the materials between
them, which operation is continued until the materials are reduced to a stato
of extremely minute division in the water, and together therewith forming a
semi-liquid, of about the same consistence and appearance as thick cream,
which semi-liquid is ready for use in manner aforesaid, after it has been passed
through sieves of fine lawn, so as to effectually separate all coarso particles
which may have escaped the grinding operation of the mill. And note, the
modo herein-before described of pouring out a quantity of the semi-liquid upon
the article is most applicable in cases when only one side of an article is
required to be coated, such as the hollow side of a kettle or pot, or jug,
or mug, or dish, or plate, or waiter, or tray, or cup, or basin, or bread-
basket, or cheese tray, or other similar article, in which cases the other sido
of the article may be covered by a subsequent coating of vitrified materials (as
herein-after explained), or else by ordinary japanning. And note, in applying the
said first coating of such semi-liquid to the surfaces of the articles, instead of
pouring out a quantity thereon, as herein-before stated, they may be wholly
immersed in the semi-liquid, in cases when it is required to coat or cover over
every part of the surfaces of each article. And after withdrawing the article
from the semi-liquid, then all surplus thereof is to be drained off from the
surfaces of the article, which should at the time of so draining be held between
the fingers of both hands, with the surfaces inclined in different directions in

page_text: succession, in manner already described, and turned over so as to cause the
draining off to take place from both sides of the article, in the same manner
as already described respecting one side, suitably for leaving the coating an
uniform coating over all parts of the surface. And in the act of holding the
article for drawing off the surplus semi-liquid as aforesaid, the fingers of the
two hands are applied to the edges of the article at two opposite places of its
circumference, so that the weight of the article will balance itself,. and
therefore it will be easy to turn it over for draining both its sides in
succession, without touching any part of the surfaces of either side. And
when the coating is so far dried as that it will not run on the surfaces,
then the article is to be laid down upon the points of three small supports
of burnt earthenware, which stand upon a small iron plate, and that plate is
taken up, in order to carry away the article, and introduce it to the japanner's
stove, for effectual drying the whole of the coating on both sides; and by using
the said iron plate and three supports the covering is not touched, except at
three small places. And note, when the article is afterwards removed from
the said stove, in order to be introduced into the muffle for firing or burning on
the coating (in manner herein-after to be described), it will still be borne on
the same three supports, because the iron plate on which they rest will be
removed from the stove, and introduced into the muffle, with the three supports
and the article upon it. And in case of any specks or deficient places in the
coating, the specks may be removed and the deficient places may be mended
by applying a sufficiency of the semi-liquid thereto, with a brush of suitable
size, in the manner of painting or pencilling, and then drying the article in the
stove, so as that every part shall be completely covered, and every part of the
covering effectually dried on. The ultimate appearance of the articles when
finished will depend very much upon the care wherewith the coating has been
applied, so as to cover the surfaces (or as much of the surfaces as are intended
to be covered) with uniformity of thickness of the material; and uniformity of
the composition thereof must be attained by care in the mixing, fritting,
grinding, and straining the materials in the manner already described. And
the articles being thus coated, and the coating perfectly dried on, they are
then ready for firing, in order so far to vitrify the materials as to harden
the coating, and fasten it on to the surfaces of the articles. The firing is
performed in a furnace of the kind used by painters in enamel, being an oven
strongly heated by fire applied beneath it, and by flame therefrom passing in
flues around it, and may be called a muffle, but no fire, or flame, or smoke
can enter into the interior of the muffle wherein the articles are placed. And
although the construction of such muffles is well known, and is no part of my

page_text: Invention, I have hereunto annexed a Drawing of a muffle which I have used
and found to answer the purposes.
Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section, and Figure 2 a longitudinal vertical
section, the same letters of reference being used to denote the same parts in
both Figures. A, A, a, a, b, b, is the oven or muffle built of fire-bricks, set
with fire-clay, and well jointed together. It is closed at all parts, except the
end B, which is an open mouth for introducing and taking out the articles,
and is closed when required by letting down an iron door d, Figure 2, which is
suspended in the manner of a sluice, so as to draw up or let down in a vertical
plane. D, D, are the fire-grates, of which there are two, side by side, as is
shewn in Figure 1, the fire-places above the grates being separated one from
the other by a brick wall E, which sustains the middle part of the flat floor a, a,
of the muffle. F, are the fire-doors, at the opposite end to the door d of tho
muffle. Those fire-doors, as well as the openings into the ash pits beneath the
fire-grates, are not within the apartment into which the end B of the muffle
opens, in order that any dust or ashes and smoke which may at times rise
from the fire-doors and ash pits may not affect the articles which are in the
.said apartment, and from which apartment the articles are introdued into the
muffle, and taken out therefrom. The heat of the burning coals on the fire-
grates acts immediately beneath the flat floor a, a, of the muffle, to give heat
thereto, and the currents of heated smoke, flame, or gas, which proceed from
the fires, pass away laterally from each fireplace through flues e, e, which
conduct the current into a narrow space f, f, by which the muffle is surrounded
at each side, and at the remote end, and over its arched roof b, b; and finally
the said currents ascend through three vertical flues h, h, h, and from the
upper ends thereof into the large chimney F, within the lower part of which
the whole muffle is erected; and the size of the chimney is diminished at its
_higher part above the flues h, so that the interior aperture is about eighteen
inches square at the top, which is about twenty-five feet high above the level
of the fire-grates D, D. There is also a direct ascent from the upper part
of each fireplace at g, Figure 2, into the said space f,f, around the muffic, and
at the remote end thereof. Strong fires being kept up in the two fireplaces,
the heat ascending therefrom, and in the space f. f. gives heat to all parts of
the muffle, so as to keep it always at a glowing red heat and with
uniformity of that heat over all parts of the flat bottom or floor a, a,
of the muffle on which the articles are to be placed for being fired. And
small slabs cut out of fire-stone or fire-bricks, or made of fire-clay burnt
of a suitable size and form to serve as supports for the several articles,
are laid on the bottom a, a, (of the muffle,) and allowed to become heated

page_text: therewith, each such stand being for one single article, and so disposed on the
floor a, a, as that when an article is placed on a stand it will not be
interfered with by any other article that may be placed on another adjacent
stand. After the whole of the muffle and the said stands have attained a full
aud glowing red heat (the door & being closed during the heating), the muffle
is then ready to receive the articles which have been previously coated
and the covering perfectly dried on, as already explained. The articles
may be taken up by a suitable instrument, such as an iron fork or flat slice
with a long handle, and carried thereon to the open end B of the muffle,
the sliding door d thereof being raised just enough to allow the article to be
introduced beneath it, and deposited on one of the stands, and then the
instrument by which the article was carried and introduced being withdrawn,
the door d is let down immediately, to prevent loss of heat from the muffle.
Several articles may be thus introduced one immediately after another, each
article being deposited upon a distinct stand. The articles are left in the muffle
to be subjected to the heat therein until such time as that the earthy compo-
sition will have undergone so much of the commencement of fusion or partial
semi-vitrification as to render the earthy particles of the coating firmly
adherent one particle to another, and to the surface of the metal of the articles,
which are then to be withdrawn from the muffle, and laid on a flat iron bench,
for cooling, and when cold those parts of the surface which have been coated
in manner aforesaid present a dead whitish appearance of earthenware which
has been once fired but has not been glazed, being in the state which is
termed (by potters) biscuit. The time that the articles must remain in the
heated muffle for firing will vary from a few minutes to half an hour, but the
time that will be requisite cannot be stated with precision, because it depends
upon the heat of the muffle and the size of the article and the number of
articles which are in the muffle at the same time; but the operator will soon
find what time will be suitable for articles of each kind, and what heat should
be kept up in the muffle in order to obtain the required result of rendering
the coating hard and firmly adherent to the surface of the metal of the article
after the same has become cool. After the first coat has been laid on the
surface of the article, and fixed thereon by firing as aforesaid, and the
articles have become cool, then the newly-formed coating is wetted with
water, either by passing a wet sponge over it, or else by dipping the 'articles
into water, and a second coat is then applied over the first coat, and dried
thereon in the japanners' stove, and then fired in the muffle, in the same
manner as the first coat. The composition of materials which I have found
suitable for the said second coating may be prepared as follows:-Take 32

page_text: parts by weight of calcined bone ground to fine powder, and 16 like parts of
China clay and 14 parts of Cornwall stone in fine powder, and 8 parts of
carbonate of potash, the latter being dissolved in water. The other ingredients
are mixed up therewith so as to make a thick paste of the whole, which is then.
fritted for two or three hours in a reverberatory furnace until it assumes the
appearance of biscuit china, which is to be reduced to powder. Then 5 parts
by weight of such powder is to mixed with 16 parts of flint glass broken small,
and 5 parts of calcined bone ground, and 3 parts of calcined flint ground, the
said mixture being afterwards ground with water in a porcelain mill until it is
reduced to a semi-liquid state, about the consistence of cream. That semi-liquid
is then carefully strained through sieves of lawn, and will then be ready for
use, in the same manner as already explained respecting the semi-liquid for the
first coating. In firing the second coating care must be taken that the heat
of the muffle is sufficient, and that the articles are kept long enough in the
heat for thoroughly incorporating the second coat with the first and hardening
both coats. The articles, after having been covered with the second coat, and
that coat fired, and the articles become cool, will have a stronger and whiter
colour, and more decided resemblance to articles of good earthenware in tho
state called biscuit. But note, in case it is desired to give a very white
colour to the second coating, in order that it may resemble the finest earthen-
ware in the state of biscuit, then it may be advisable, in place of the 16 parts of
flint glass last mentioned, to substitute a like quantity of the following compo-
sition, videlicet:-Take 4 parts by weight of feldspar in powder, and 4 parts of
white sand, and 4 parts of carbonate of potash, and 1 part of arsenic, and 6 parts
of borax, and 1 part of oxide of tin, and 1 part of nitre, and 1 part of whiting,
the mixture of those ingredients being fritted either in a reverberatory furnace
in the same manner as herein-before described respecting fritting for the
materials of the first coating, or else the fritting may be performed in a
crucible placed in a furnace so as to be strongly heated, the heat in either
case being continued until the materials are partially fused; and the fritt,
when cold, will have the appearance of a white enamel, which, being reduced
to powder, that powder is to be substituted weight for weight for the 16 parts
of flint glass already mentioned in the composition of materials for the second
coat, all the other materials mentioned therefor, except the flint glass, being
the same as there stated. But note, except for the purpose of obtaining
whiteness of colour, the flint glass is preferable, being cheaper and equally
good in other respects. And after the articles have received the second coat,
and that coat has been fired, and the articles liave becomo cold, as aforesaid,
then they are to be wetted by either by dipping into water or by passing a wet

page_text: sponge over the second coating, and then the articles are ready for receiving
the third coat or glaze, which is applied in a semi-liquid state, in the same
.manner as already explained respecting the manner of applying the first coat,
great care being taken in draining off the surplus semi-liquid glaze to leave an
equally distributed and thin coat of the glaze covering over every part of the
second coat. Then the article is to be dried in the japanner's stove, and after-
wards fired in the muffle to thoroughly vitrify the glaze, which, after the
'article is withdrawn from the muffle and become cool, will present the appear-
ance of glazed earthenware of good quality, or of the best quality, in case
the composition above mentioned has been substituted for the flint glass
amongst the materials for the second coat, as already mentioned. And the
composition of materials which I have found suitable for the said third
coat or glaze may be as follows:-Take 12 parts by weight of feldspar in
powder, and 4 parts of-china clay, and 18 parts of borax, and 3 parts of
nitre, and 1 parts of carbonate of potash, and 14 parts of oxide of tin, which
materials being well mixed together the mixture is to be fritted either in a
reverberatory furnace or else in a crucible, and then the fritt being reduced to
powder is.to be ground with water in a porcelain mill to a semi-liquid state,
and strained through fine lawn, in the same manner as already described for
-preparing the composition for the first coat. Or, instead of the above com-
position, the following may be adopted for the third coat or glaze :-Take
.9 parts by weight of feldspar in powder, and two parts of china clay, and
9 parts of borax, and 2 parts of nitre, and 3 parts of carbonate of soda, and
part of arsenic, which materials being mixed together, the mixture is to be
fritted either in a reverberatory furnace or else in a crucible, and then the
fritt being reduced to powder is to be ground in water in a porcelain mill to a
semi-liquid state, and strained through fine lawn as aforesaid. And note, in
firing the articles for the third coat or glaze in the muffle, as already men-
⚫tioned, the heat of the muffle, and the time the articles are subjected to the
.heat, must be sufficient to cause :the glaze to become thoroughly vitrified, and
.spread over the whole surface of the second coat, so as to become incorporated
with that coat, and effectually glaze the surface thereof, in like manner as is
the case with the glaze upon earthenware of good quality or of best quality;
and in case there are any imperfections in the glaze after it has been so fired,
then, after the articles are cold, another coating of the same glaze may be
applied in a semi-liquid state, and dried in the japanner's stove, and then fired
.in the muffle, as was done for the first coating of glaze; and so in like
manner a third coating of glaze may be applied, and fired, if requisite. And
respecting ornamenting the surfaces of the articles which have been coated or

page_text: covered in manner aforesaid, those surfaces may be coloured or variegated
with colours according to some ornamental pattern or design, or may be
painted in enamel colours by pencilling or by stencilling, or may be printed
by transferring from the impressions taken on paper or on glue bats from
engraved copper plates (or steel plates may be used), in the same manner as
is commonly practised for ornamenting earthenware of ordinary quality or of
the best quality or porcelain; and gold may be applied for gilding the articles
in concert with painting or without, all in the usual and well-known manner
commonly practised by potters and manufacturers of porcelain and by enamel
painters, in all cases the ornamental colouring, painting, printing, or gilding,
being afterwards fixed in the glaze by firing or burning in the mufflo,
so as to incorporate the ornamental coloring, painting, printing, or gilding
into the glaze. And note, in firing the glaze on the surfaces of articles
which are intended to be afterwards ornamented by painting, colouring,
printing, or gilding on that glaze as aforesaid, the firing need not be carried to
its full intended extent of completely vitrifying the glaze; but after the colours
or printing or gilding have been applied upon the glaze, then the required
vitrification of the glaze may be completed in the act of finally firing or
burning in the ornamental painting, colouring, printing, or gilding. And in
case it is required to give an uniform tint of colour to all parts of the coating or
covering of the articles, then suitable metallic oxides which (as is well known
to potters and manufacturers of porcelain) will produce the required tints, are
to be mixed up amongst the ingredients herein-before described for the
different coatings before the final grinding of the said ingredients in water in
a porcelain mill to the intended semi-liquid state. In case deep colours are
intended, then suitable metallic oxides for producing such colours may be
intermixed with the materials for each of the three coats; or in the case of
lighter colours it may be better to mix up such oxides only in the materials for
the second coat. And in case of delicate transparent colours it may be
sufficient to mix some suitable metallic oxide in the materials for the third
coat or glaze. The preparation of suitable colouring matters for the aforesaid
purposes of colouring the whole body of the several coatings (or some of
them) with an uniform tint of colour, as well as for partial ornamental colouring
to be applied on the glaze by painting, pencilling, stencilling, or printing,
according to some ornamental pattern or design, being well known and com-
monly practised by potters and manufacturers of porcelain and painters in
enamel, it is not necessary to give any directions relative thereto. And the same
may be said of the relative quantities of such metallic oxides that should ho
used in different cases. Those quantities must be varied according to the depth

page_text: sponge
saturated
or the lightness of colour that may be required. And note, such articles as
have been only coated or covered (or coated, covered, and ornamented,) in
manner aforesaid on one side of each article (for the front or inside or most
important side thereof), may afterwards have the opposite side (which will be
the back or under side, or least important side,) coated or covered with black
glaze, applied with a sponge when in a semi-liquid state, and dried on in the
japanners' stove, and then fired in the muffle, in the same manner as described
for the other coatings. The composition of materials for such black glaze
may be the same as either of the compositions herein-before described for the
third coat or glaze, with the addition of two parts by weight of oxide of
manganese and one part of cobalt, those two materials being reduced to
powder, and mixed up amongst the other materials of either of the aforesaid
compositions, before the fritting of the mixture in a furnace or crucible is
performed, and the effect of the addition will be to cause the frit to resemble a
black enamel, which being (as herein-before described) reduced to powder,
and then ground with water in the porcelain mill to a semi-liquid state, and
afterwards strained through lawn, will be ready to be spread upon the
uncovered metallic surfaces of the articles, after those surfaces have been
cleaned by rubbing them with sandstone or otherwise. A
with the semi-liquid may be carefully passed over the said surfaces, so as to
cover every part thereof, and after the semi-liquid so applied has been dried on
in the japanners' stove the opposite side of the article, whereof the coating or
covering has been previously finished, should be examined, and if by accident
there is any of the said semi-liquid on such finished coating, it must be
carefully removed, and then the article being fired in the muffle to vitrify the
black glaze, it will complete the coating or covering of the article; and in
case of such coating of black glaze being imperfect it may be covered with
a second such coating, and that with a third, if required, each such
coating being applied and burnt on in the same manner as above described
for the first coating of black glaze. And note, if a deep blue glaze is
preferred to black, then the oxide of manganese may be diminished or
'omitted, and so much as is omitted may be replaced weight for weight by
cobalt, in addition to the quantity of cobalt above mentioned. Or other-
wise, instead of coating or covering with black glaze or blue glaze in
"manner aforesaid, the back or under side or least important side of the
articles may be finished by japanning in the usual manner of japanners,
'so that when the articles are ultimately completed, one side or surface
of each article will present the appearance of glazed earthenware, either
a plain white or other uniform colour, or else ornamented with colouring

page_text: according to some ornamental pattern or design, and the opposite side of the
same article will present the appearance of a japanned article. My said
improved mode is applicable to a very great variety of articles, most of which
have been heretofore usually made of earthenware, or of sheet iron japanned
or tinned, or of tinned iron japanned, and is particularly applicable to such
articles as are or may be formed of one piece of sheet iron, stamped or partly
stamped and partly hammered or otherwise wrought to the required form;
for instance, tea trays, waiters, tablo tops, pallets for mixing colours, fruit
baskets or trays, broad baskets, cheese trays, snuffer stands, flower stands,
scale pans of balances for weighing, dinner and desert plates and dishes, soup
plates and dishes, cups and saucers, basons, bowls, washing basons, and basons
for waterclosets, frying pans, stew pans, and sauce pans, ornamented finger.
plates for doors, name plates or tablets for doors or shops or for streets, and
ornamented plates or tablets for any inscriptions, armorial bearings, or other
devices, slabs for washing stands, the bowls of spoons and ladles, and other
articles whereof the concavity is not deeper or more sudden than can be
produced out of one piece of sheet iron or brass or copper by stamping or
stamping and hammering or otherwise working the metal; and for articles of
deeper concavity, which may for that reason (or for other reasons) require
to be made of more than one piece of metal, each picco being cut out of sheet
metal, and bended up or stamped, or stamped and hammered or otherwise
wrought to the intended form, and fitted one piece to another, the pieces are
to be united by hard soldering called brazing, or by overlapping and turning
down the edges (with bordering wires enclosed, when required for strength),
and hammering close, or by rivetting, screw pinning, or dovetailing such
articles; for instance, as cylindrical or other jars, deep pots, jugs, kettles, and
saucepans having narrow mouths and wider bellies. The cylindrical or
conical bodies of coffee filters, pots, or biggins, butter cups and stands, orna-
mental garden pots, with dishes therefor, watering-pots, slop pails, foot baths,
wine coolers, ornamental urns and vases, tea urns, ornamental toilet boxes,
work boxes, tea caddies, and many other articles, the surfaces whereof (or
parts of those surfaces) may be coated or covered, or coated, covered, and orna-
mented, according to my said improved mode; but for most such articles it
will be suitable to coat or cover, or to coat over and ornament, only one sido
(videlicet, the front or most visible or most important side), according to my
said improved mode, and to japan the other or opposite side, as herein-before
mentioned. And note, the metal whereof the said articles are made should
be thicker than usually employed for like articles, if they were intended to be
japanned; and the thickness of the whole coating or covering according to

page_text: my said improved mode, including the glaze, need not be greater than the
thickness of the usual coating or covering of like articles by japanning.
Having now described my said improved mode, I, the said Frederick
Walton, do hereby declare that the new Invention whereof the exclusive use
is granted to me by the Letters Patent herein-before recited consists in the
improved mode herein-before described of coating or covering, or of coating,
covering, and ornamenting, the surfaces (or parts of the surfaces) of articles
which are or may be made of wrought or sheet iron, or of sheet brass, or of
sheet copper, the coating or covering consisting of at least three successive
coats of partially vitrified and vitrified earthen materials compounded and
prepared as herein-before described (or similarly compounded and prepared),
and applied on the surfaces of the articles in a semi-liquid state, and dried on,
and then fired in manner herein-before described, but each of the said suc-
cessive coats being fired before another is laid on, so as when completed to
form a glazed enamelled surface upon the articles, bearing a resemblance to
the surface of glazed earthenware, and which surface may be ornamented with
printing or painting in colours, with gilding, if desired, of the same kind or
similar in appearance to the ornamented surfaces of earthenware, such
printing, painting, or gilding being permanently fixed on the said surface by
firing. And whereas it is not new to coat or cover the surfaces of articles
of iron with partially vitrified earthen materials of a coarse quality, no
claim is hereby made to so coating or covering, except when performed
according to my improved mode herein-before described, the distinctive
character of which improved mode is, that at least three successive coats are
applied in a semi-liquid state, each coat being fired before the next coat is
applied; the first of such coats being a composition of partially vitrifiable mate-
rials wherein calcined bone predominates, and, together with flint glass, forms
the chief ingredients, but rendered moderately fusible by suitable fluxing matters
which are effectually incorporated with the glass by preparatory fritting, as
herein-before described, and which first coat, being only partially vitrified in
the firing, will adhere firmly to the surface of the metal, and exhibit a dead
whitish colour, being so thoroughly opake as to avoid shewing the colour of the
metal through it; and the second coat being also a composition of partially
vitrifiable materials wherein flint glass predominates (or else a fritted com-
position equivalent thereto, but of a whiter colour), and, together with
calcined bone, forms the chief ingredients, but made up with calcined bone,
China clay, and Cornish stone, and suitable fluxing matter, which is effectually
incorporated with the said bone and clay and stone by preparatory fritting,
and which second coat, being only partially vitrified in the firing, will adhere