IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING PAPER AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
MANSELL, of Red Lion Square, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturing
Fancy Stationer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirty-first day of July, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Mansell, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Joseph Mansell, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said Joseph Mansell, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING PAPER AND
OTHER FABRICS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said Joseph Mansell, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 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 in part
recited 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
Joseph Mansell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say) :-

page_text: This Invention consists in imparting to paper and to fabrics capable of
receiving a gloss by pressure between hard surfaces patterns or designs which
will somewhat resemble, the effect obtained by plain damask weaving. In
operating to produce the novel kind of ornamentation which I term "satin
damask," I work either upon fabrics having naturally a dull surface, or such
as have been prepared with a glossy surface, the object being to display the
pattern by giving it a glossy or dull surface, as the case may be, so as to
contrast with the original ground or surface of the fabric ornamented.
In applying my Invention to fabrics prepared with a glossy surface, as, for
instance, glazed calicoes, or paper having a satin finish, I cut out in a thin
plate or sheet of metal (after the manner of stencil-plate cutting), any required
design, and place such plate upon the calico or other fabric that is to receive
the pattern. I then apply a damp cloth or blanket to the plate, so as to
bring the cloth into contact with so much of the glossy surface as is left
uncovered by the plate. By this means I destroy the gloss on such
exposed parts, and thereby produce the pattern required on the fabric, the
pattern in this case being dull, while the ground is glossy.
Another mode of producing the same effect on fabrics having a glossed
surface is by the use of blocks similar to those employed by calico printers.
To the printing surface of such blocks I apply moisture, and while in a damp
state I
press them upon
the fabric to be ornamented, after the manner of block
printing, by which means I remove the gloss from such parts of the fabric as
have been brought into contact with the damp surface of the blocks, and
produce the like effect to that before mentioned. In the modes just
described for obtaining the. "satin damask" finish, it will be understood
that two operations are requisite (viz), first, the glazing or glossing of the
fabric, and, second, the partial removal of the gloss; but by the method
which I will now explain I am enabled to obtain the "satin damask"
finish at one operation, that is, by glossing the fabric in parts only, instead of
over its whole surface, leaving the other parts corresponding to the pattern,
or the spaces between the pattern, in their normal condition. In carrying
'out this mode of operating I prepare a polished steel roller, turned perfectly
true, or a polished steel plate of suitable thickness (say three sixteenths of
an inch), and upon this polished steel surface I draw any required design
in common stopping-out varnish, or, in fact, any substance that will resist
the action of dilute acid. When the surface of the roller or plate is covered
with the design to the extent required I subject the exposed parts of the
polished surface to the corroding action of dilute nitric or other suitable acid,
and by that means I change the character of the surface of the exposed part of
the roller or plate by removing the polish therefrom.. As soon as this change

page_text: has taken place, (the time for effecting which will vary according to the strength
of the acid used, the temperature of the atmosphere, and other causes,) I throw
off the acid, and wash the roller or plate with water. I then remove the stop-
ping-out varnish, and have an ornamented surface still smooth to the hand, but
presenting to the eye the marked difference of dead and burnished metal. If
it is a roller which has been thus prepared, I mount it in a suitable framing,
and place over it a perfectly smooth pressing roller, made, by preference, of
some slightly yielding material. Between these rollers I pass the paper or
other fabric to be ornamented with the "satin damask" finish (driving the
steel roller by manual or other power), and thereby produce on the fabric a
glazed pattern corresponding to the bright surface of the metal roller. In
using a plate prepared as above described I pass it, together with the fabric to
be ornamented, between a pair of pressing rollers, and thereby obtain on the
fabric a counterpart of the pattern contained on the plate.
Having now described the improvements in ornamenting paper and other
fabrics constituting the subject of this Invention, I wish it to be understood
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, producing upon the class of fabrics already designated ornamental
designs or patterns by partially removing the glaze or gloss which such fabrics
have received.
And,
Secondly, partially glazing or glossing paper and other fabrics that are capable
of receiving a gloss by pressure, so as to produce ornamental designs or patterns
by contrast of the dull and glazed parts of the surface of fabrics so treated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Mansell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.