A NEW PROCESS OF MODELLING & MOULDING FOR GALVANO- PLASTIC
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Toussaint, of No. 1, Welbeck Street,
Cavendish Square, London, in the County of Middlesex, for the Inven-
tion of "A NEW PROCESS OF MODELLING & MOULDING FOR GALVANO-
PLASTIC."
Sealed the 8th July 1859, and dated the 30th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Toussaint at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
April 1859.
I, JOSEPH TOUSSAINT, of No. 1B, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square,
London, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW PROCESS OF MODELLING & MOULDING FOR GALVANO-
PLASTIC," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the reproduction by electricity, in hollow or
in relief, of leaves, flowers, fruits, shrubs, reptiles, fishes, birds, insects, shells,
animals, and all objects, animate and inanimate, in groups or sparately.
My matrices & moulds are either of plaster, copper, or any other metal, &
are obtained without having recourse to either carving, sculpture, or engraving
by the means of galvano-plastic, and by moulding from nature all matter,
objects, or things susceptible of being galvanized. For this purpose the
moulds are rendered metallic, put into baths, where they are left a sufficient
time for them to obtain a coating of copper or any other metal. The matrices
in copper reproduce shrubs, leaves, flowers, fruits, &c. on either side, and these

page_text: serve to make matrices for stamping stuffs, papers, thin sheets of metal, and
all description of pastes applicable to ornamentation. The above results,
obtained in hollow and relief by galvano-plastic in copper or other metal, in
groups or separately, are applicable to all description of objects of art and
public utility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Toussaint, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
TOUSSAINT, of No. 1B, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, London, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Joseph Toussaint, Her special licence that I, the said
Joseph Toussaint, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Toussaint, 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 "A NEW PROCESS OF MODELLING AND MOULDING
FOR GALVANO-PLASTIC," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Toussaint, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Toussaint, 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:―
The mode of proceeding is as follows:-A natural leaf is taken and put on
a plate of modelling wax, and with a brush a coat of spirits of wine or

page_text: essence without grease is given, immediately after and before they have
evaporated it is brushed over with pure water with another brush. During
this first operation some fine modelling plaster is is mixed; this mixture ought
to be very clear, with not much plaster, and before it is completely soaked with
water it is mixed promptly with the hand, and equally spread over the wet
leaf (by hand).
This operation requires great attention, and ought not to occupy more than
one or two minutes, so that the plaster may soak up the water on the leaf and
take the impression with all the beauty of nature. After having thus operated
upon one side of the leaf the plate of wax is taken up without any trouble or
preparation, as it does not adhere to the leaf; a fatty matter is spread on the
borders of the plaster, which projects from the leaf about an inch. This
fatty matter is generally composed of 14 oz. of common oil and 3 oz. of lard;
this greasing is necessary to prevent the adherence of the second operation in
plaster, which is done in the same manner as the first, to obtain the reverse of
the leaf. By the help of a pointed knife or other implement introduced in the
joints, the separation of the plaster moulds is easily obtained, and these are
then put to dry in a stove for the space of 12 hours or more, according to the
thickness of the plaster, and when they are properly dried are taken out and
thrown in their heated state into a bath of pure boiling tallow or stearine;
the moulds are left in this bath for 10 or 20 minutes, according to the thickness
of the plaster. This operation is to prevent the destruction of the moulds at
the time of galvanization in the baths. In taking out the moulds from the
bath of clean tallow, they are put into a basin in a bath of boiling turpentine,
with which they are bathed by the help of a large ladle, in order to get rid of
the fatty matter which is upon the surface of the moulds and obstructs the
beauty of the leaf; this operation has the effect of rendering the moulds clean
for the reproduction. To obtain a vase or plate with flat leaves of their
natural thickness, the imprint of the vase or plate is taken with the wax com-
posed as before; the leaves are then placed upon this wax form, fixed with
pins, and the whole is moulded by the same process as that we have already
explained.
The mode of rendering the moulds metallic before putting them in the galvano-
plastics baths.-2 drams of nitrate of silver dissolved in 5 drams of distilled
water, and five drams of spirits of wine, mixed together, and with a brush a
coating of this liquid is given to the moulds. To know whether the metalli-
zation is complete an infusion is made in a two-necked bottle, generally used
in chemistry, of the following:-3 oz. of muriatic acid, 93 oz. distilled water,
5 or 7 drams of sulphur of barytes or barium, and by means of india-rubber

page_text: pipes corresponding with the bottle and a bellows, the vapour produced by the
mixture of the above is directed upon the moulds, and if the metallization has
been properly done as above, they instantly become black; if any part of the
moulds have white spots upon them it proves that the metallization is not
complete on these parts, which must be remedied by operating with a brush
upon these spots, and giving them one or two coats of a new liquid composed
of 2 drams of nitrate of silver dissolved in 1 oz. 2 dr. of volatile alkali, after
which the metallization is again proved by directing the vapour as before upon
these white spots, in this case they will become black, and the operation is
complete. They are then placed in the galvano-plastic bath in the same
manner as if they were blackleaded, so that a deposit of metal may be obtained.
To obtain a mould of leaves, flowers, or fruits in hollow, the opposite side of
the leaf, of which the impression in hollow is to be obtained, is furnished with
a plate of gutta percha or wax, oz. of virgin or white wax is dissolved in
6 oz. 2 dr. of turpentine, and by the help of a brush a coating of this liquid is
laid on the copper relief the hollow of which is to be obtained, in order
to prevent the adherence of the two coppers; it is then next placed in the
galvano-plastic bath by the ordinary proceeding, and when the deposit of
copper is made the two leaves of copper are separated by means of an imple-
ment, and they are thus obtained in hollow.
If the matrice is too weak in copper it is remedied by thickening with a
coating of brass. Flower moulding is done in the same manner as the leaves,
but without spirits of wine or any preparation before laying on the plaster,
except water sprinkled on them with the month or a rose.
1
Fruit moulding in bunches is done in the same manner as the leaves, that
is to say, wetted with the spirits of wine, then with water, & then with the
moistened plaster very clean; when the fruits are smeared over they are placed
upon three small square pieces of dry plaster prepared beforehand, and inch
thick, which are covered with some of the moistened plaster, so as to make
fast the fruit; a silken thread is laid on the fruit with ends about 8 ins. on each
side, & they are then all covered with a second coating of plaster about in.
or 1 in. in thickness, and while the plaster is yet in the paste, by means of the
ends of the thread the mould is cut in two, and the separation of the fruit is
obtained. The round pieces of wood used for ornament or the accompaniment
of vegetables are moulded in gutta percha in two shells in the same manner as
the round bunches in bronze, and are metallized the same as the plaster
moulds. Employment of leaves, flowers, and fruits as ornaments for frames,
pedestals of clocks, vases, gold filagree work, and trinkets, and their repro-
duction in galvano-plastic.

page_text: Mode of proceeding.-Modelling wax is prepared as before. The following
oz. of resin, 14 oz. of yellow or
oz. of lard; these quantities are
is then melted: 21 lbs. of yellow wax, 10
red ochre, 1 lb. 1 oz. of potatoe starch, 3
according to the temperature; the lard is augmented in winter, and the weight
of the wax or resin in summer; the composition is allowed to cool in a covered
vase, and before it is completely cold it is taken from the vase and mixed with
the hand till it becomes a very elastic paste, which is made into little sticks
and rolled into plates about 7 in. thick with a wet roller upon a board, also
wetted with a sponge; the leaves are placed on this plate of wax, and with a
needle in a handle the wax is cut in the same form and dimensions as the
contour of the leaf, which admits of any thickness being given to the orna-
ment. Before applying the leaves, flowers, fruits, or wood composing the
ornament, in the form of frames, vases, &c., in wood or dry paste, a light
coating of the fatty composition above is laid on the forms in order to prevent
adherence; the ornament is then grouped, the wood, the fruits, and the
flowers are fixed in the form to be moulded by means of pins and needles,
and the whole is then operated upon by the same means as before. Before
taking from the mould the pins and needles must be withdrawn, and care
must be taken that the plaster moulds are not quite cold, although hard.
The wood, leaves, flowers, and fruits are taken from the mould. To do this
easily the moulded vegetables are exposed for a few minutes in the stove;
when this is done the moulds are dried in the stove as above, they are then
metallized and galvanized. Reptiles, insects, and birds are moulded in the
same manner as the vegetables; the shells are moulded in gutta percha and
gelatine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Toussaint, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 17th day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
(L.S.) JOSEPH TOUSSAINT.