A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING OR PREPARING NATURAL FLOWERS, LEAVES, AND OTHER PARTS OF PLANTS FOR ORNAMENTAL OR DECORATIVE PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Arthur Russel Fenton, of Bayswater,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A
NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING OR PREPARING NATURAL FLOWERS,
LEAVES, AND OTHER PARTS OF PLANTS FOR ORNAMENTAL OR DECORATIVE
PURPOSES."
'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Arthur
Russel Fenton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 13th April 1875.
I, FREDERICK ARTHUR RUSSEL FENTON, of Bayswater, in the County
5 of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING OR PREPARING NAtural
FLOWERS, LEAVES, AND OTHER PARTS OF PLANTS FOR ORNAMENTAL OR DECORATIVE
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to prepare the flowers, leaves, and
O other parts of plants in such manner as to preserve them in their
natural form and colors, and so that they shall be suitable for orna-

page_text: mental or decorative purposes and generally for all purposes for which
artificial flowers or foliage are employed, and the essential feature of
the Invention consists in the employment of a cement with which I
cover the backs of the petals, or of the leaves, this cement in drying
and hardening abstracts the moisture contained in the petals or leaves
without affecting their form or color.
The manner in which I apply my Invention to a heartsease for
example is as follows.-I lay the flower face downwards on any suitable
surface, and with a camel's hair or other brush I cover the back with
cement in a warm state and of a pasty consistency. The layer or
coating of cement should be sufficiently thick to form a strong backing
to the flower. I thus obtain a sort of moulding, the face of which is
composed of the natural flower which has retained its natural form and
colors. I then coat the face with any suitable transparent varnish, or if
a dull appearance is desired the varnish is dispensed with.
For preparing the stalks of flowers or of leaves, and even for pre-
paring some flowers, the form of which renders it difficult to treat in the
manner above explained, hyacinths, for example, I immerse the whole
in the cement, which in this case should be in a more liquid condition.
The form, but not the color, of the natural stalk or flower is thus
retained, and after the cement has become dry, I color the same in
imitation of the natural stalk or flower.
The cement which I prefer to use for the purpose is composed of
whiting, gelatine, and isınglass. I have found that about 1 lb. of
oz. of isınglass are proportions which
whiting to lb. of gelatine, and
answer well.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK 30
ARTHUR RUSSEL FENTON, of Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.

page_text: of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Arthur Russel
Fenton, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick Arthur Russel
Fenton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Frederick Arthur Russel Fenton, my exccutors, adminis-
trators, 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, usc, excrcise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE
OF TREATING OR PREPARING NATURAL FLOWERS, LEAVES, AND OTHER PARTS OF
PLANTS FOR ORNAMENTAL OR DECORATIVE PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Arthur Russel Fenton,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, should particularly describe
and ascertam 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Arthur Russel Fenton,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
The object of my Invention is to prepare the flowers, leaves, and
other parts of plants, in such manner as to preserve them in their
natural form and colors, and so that they shall be suitable for orna-
mental or decorative purposes, and generally for all purposes for
which artificial flowers or foliage are employed, and the essential feature
of the Invention consists in the employment of a cement with which I
cover the backs of the petals or of the leaves; this cement in drying
and hardening abstracts the moisture contained in the petals or leaves
without affecting their form or color.
The manner in which I apply my Invention to a heartsease, for
example, is as follows:-I lay the flower face downwards on any
suitable surface, and with a camel's hair or other brush I cover the
back with cement in a warm state and of a pasty consistency. The layer or

page_text: coating of cement should be sufficiently thick to form a strong backing
to the flower. I thus obtain a sort of moulding, the face of which is
composed of the natural flower which has retained its natural form and
colors
I then coat the face with any suitable transparent varnish, or if
a dull appearance is desired the varnish is dispensed with.
5
For preparing the stalks of flowers or of leaves, and even for preparing
some flowers, the form of which renders it difficult to treat in the
manner above explained, hyacinths, for example, I immerse the wholo
in the coment, which in this caso should be in a more liquid condition.
The form, but not the color, of the natural stalk or flower is thus 1
retained, and after the cement has become dry I color the same in
imitation of the natural stalk or flower.
The cement which I prefer to use for the purpose is composed of
whiting, gelatine, and isinglass. I have found that about 1 lb. of
whiting to 1/2 lb. of gelatine, and ½ oz. of isinglass are proportions which 1
answer well.
In some cases, more particularly for delicate articles such as fern
leaves, I find it better to make the coating of the cement before
described as thin as possible, say, about the thickness of an eggshell. I
apply it in a creamy state, and when it has become dry, I coat it first 2
with spirit varnish, and when this has dried I apply a thick coat of
gelatine dissolved in pyroligneous acid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Arthur Russel Fenton,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
2
FREDERICK ARTHUR R. FENTON. (L.S.)