AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PAPIER MÂCHÉ TRAYS
Year: 1855

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LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Walton, of Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN PAPIER MÂCHÉ TRAYS."
Sealed the 18th March 1856, and dated the 3rd December 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Walton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
December 1855.
I, FREDERICK WALTON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PAPIER MÂCHÉ TRAYS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the use of glass and enamel for the bottoms of
papier mâché trays.
In trays made according to the ordinary method, that is to say, of papier
mâché, the japanned surface is readily scratched and injured by hot bodies
placed thereon, and otherwise. By making the upper surface of trays of glass
or enamel, there is little risk of injuring the same by scratching or otherwise,
while the said trays are economical in construction and elegant in appearance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Walton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WALTON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Walton, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick Walton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick
Walton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should 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; "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PAPIER MÂCHÉ TRAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Frederick Walton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Walton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists in the use of glass or enamel for the bottoms of
papier mâché trays, the object of my Invention being to prevent the scratching
and injuries by heat and otherwise, which commonly disfigure trays made
entirely of papier mâché, after the said trays have been for a time in use.
The varnish used to protect the ornamental designs on papier mâché trays is
changed in appearance by the spilling thereon of hot water, or contact with
the feet of a hot teapot.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I construct the edge or rim of a tray,
that is to say, the outer turned up portion, without the central part or flat
bottom. 1 construct the said rim or edge by the ordinary processes of the

page_text: papier maché manufacture. ..I make a rib or projection on the underside of
the rim or edge, the said rib or projection running all round the said rim or
edge, as will be understood by an inspection of the accompanying Drawing,
which represents in section a; tray made according to my Invention;- the, part
marked a being the rim or edge, and the part marked 6 being the rib or
projection on the under side thereof. The sheet of glass or enamel which
constitutes the bottom of the tray is, marked c, the said. sheet, c; being
inserted in the rib or projection b as a frame, and fixed therein by any suitable
cement. I have found in practise that a cement composed of equal parts of
resin and bees wax, to which a small quantity of finely powdered brick dust
has been added, answers very well. The said cement is made liquid by heat,
and poured between the edge of the plate c and the rib b. I do not, however,
limit myself to the use of any particular cement. I protect the under side of
the glass by a thin sheet of wood or vencer attached by screwing or otherwise
to the rib or projection b. The wood or veneer is marked d in the Drawing.
The under side of the veneer d is covered with green baize cloth or other
material, by which a finished appearance is given to the bottom of the tray.
The glass which I prefer to use in carrying my Invention into effect is that
known in commerce by the name of " 'patent plate," the said glass being in
thin sheets which have been ground and polished on both sides, and one
square foot of which weighs on an an average from twenty-four to twenty-six
ounces. Before the glass c is inserted in the rib or projection b, that side of
the said glass which will be the lower side in the finished tray may be orna-
mented by any method whereby glass is or may be ornamented. I ordinarily
paint a design in oil and varnish colours, and afterwards cover the whole surface
on which the design has been painted with an opaque ground color of any
desired tint. The papier maché rim or edge a may be ornamented by the
processes ordinarily practised in ornamenting papier mâché wares.
I some-
times silver the under side of the glass c, and I sometimes paint designs on
the middle or other part of the surface of the glass, and afterwards silver the
same, in place of painting the before-mentioned ground colour thereon. By
silvering, I mean the application of a metal or amalgam to the glass, so as to
make it a reflecting surface, such as that of an ordinary mirror.
Instead of using transparent glass, I sometimes use opaque glass or enamel
in carrying my Invontion into effect, and although I ordinarily ornament the
transparent glass by the method described, yet other methods may be resorte
to; such, for example, as attaching to the under surface of the glass, drawings,
engravings, or photographic pictures made upon paper or other material.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of

page_text: carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied with-
out departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention, making the bottoms or the upper surface of the bottoms of papier
mâché trays of glass or enamel, as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Walton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
BENJAMIN JONES.
FREDERICK WALTON. (L.S.)