CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING PATTERNS UPON EARTHENWARE AND PORCELAIN
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES.
JOSEPH HULLMANDEL, of Great Marlborough Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Lithographer, 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 Twenty-second day of May, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Joseph Hullmandel, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Charles Joseph Hullmandel, my executors,
adiñiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles Joseph Hullmandel,
my executors, 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING PATTERNS UPON EARTHENWARE AND
PORCELAIN ; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said Charles Joseph Hullmandel, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Inven-
tion, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited 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
Charles Joseph Hullmandel, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to performed, is particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Improvements in Producing Patterns upon Earthenware and Porcelain
consist in obtaining a floating surface of unmingled colors (which may be
drawn into any desired shape, according to the ordinary process of preparing
color for marbling paper) capable of being taken up by glazed or unglazed
ware when immersed therein, and by this means producing marble patterns on
such articles, and combinations of various kinds of marble patterns on the
same articles.
The following is one method which I adopt for preparing the marbling
surfaceFirst, I dissolve gum tragacanth in water till the solution attains
about the consistency of thick cream (this gum takes from three to four days
to be thoroughly dissolved); to this solution I add water enough for it to
weigh about 1.002 specific gravity when weighed with an hydrometer (distilled
water being 1.000 specific gravity), or one part of the above solution to about
ten parts of water; and when thus thinned, I add a decoction of mucilaginous
matter, obtained either by boiling some flea seed (pulicaria or fleawort), or a
decoction of common linseed, say one ounce in four quarts of water. Of this
mucilaginous decoction I put one part to five parts of the solution of gum
tragacanth above described, and mix the whole well together. Owing to the
great weight of the colors used in this process, I add to every four quarts of
the above mixture one part of slip (a mixture of pipeclay in water), the addi-
tion of which enables the colors used for earthenware to float on the surface of
the mixture, but otherwise they would be apt to sink to the bottom. The
solution, composed of the ingredients above mentioned, I term the bath.
The kind of colors which I employ in this part of my improved process of
marbling are those known in the Potteries as under-glaze colors, but in addi-
tion to the usual grinding they must be reground with water on a marble. slab
or a thick piece of plate glass with a muller, and kept in separate pots for use
as wanted. The dimensions of the trough for containing the mixture or bath
must of course be proportioned to the size of the articles to be operated upon.
Generally speaking, I should say that a trough two feet long, twenty-two

page_text: inches wide, by one foot deep, would do for ordinary use; larger, of course, for
larger articles. In the accompanying Drawing, at Fig. 1, A, B, represents the
trough, and a, b, c, d, a slanting board attached to one side of the trough, and
dipping into the liquid gum at a, b. The object of this board is. to facilitate
the cleaning of the surface of the bath. For this purpose a wooden straight
edge is applied so as to skim the color left after each operation on the surface
of the bath, and draw it on to the sloping board a, b, c, d. In each of the
pots containing the colors to be used I place a small open brush made of hogs
bristles, and to each color I add a little common ox-gall, putting more gall
gradually to each color in the order in which it is to be used, the color last used
will therefore contain the greatest quantity of gall. As ox-gall in the state in
which it is ordinarily used soon putrifies, I prefer to have it prepared in the
following manner:-Take one pint of gall, and add to it one ounce of common
salt; take another pint of gall, and add to it one ounce of powdered alum;
boil each mixture separately for a quarter of an hour, then mix.them together;
a strong sediment will remain; when cold, strain through a cloth, and put it
in a bottle for use. The bath and colors being ready for use, I splash with
the brush No. 1 color on to the surface of the bath; then No. 2, and so on,
according to the number of colours to be employed, in the same manner as is
adopted for marbling paper for bookbinders. When a good pattern similar to
the graining of marble is produced on the surface of the bath, I immediately
dip.therein the .porcelain .or earthenware article.which is to be ornamented;
by this means the color which is floating on the top of the bath will adhere.to
the surface of the article so immersed. In order to obtain a good marking of
the marble pattern the earthenware must be in a state of .bisque, not fired too
hard, for the more suction the ware has the more beautiful and clear will be the
pattern. As.soon as the pattern is obtained on the ware, it may, if thought desir-
able, be dipped in clear water.to remove the superfluous gum water which adheres
to the article. This dipping in clean water I prefer to be practised in all cases
where the article has strong suction. If the article to be marbled partakes of
a spherical form, like a jug or a basin, it must be rolled over the surface of the
bath. Thus, let us suppose a jug J, Fig. 2, to be marbled, I dip it sideways
in the bath A, B, C, D, then quickly roll it over towards C, B. The dotted
representation of the jug J, J, shews its position with the handle turned over
to the opposite side when the marbling is completed and it is. withdrawn.from
the bath. Beautiful effects can be produced by marbling only a portion of the
goods, leaving the rest blank, or ornamented by other colored marbling,.or, by
transferred engraving, as used already in the Potteries, or by paintings by band
appropriate to the styles, thus mixing the marbling with the, various processes

page_text: now in use. To obtain these effects the parts to be protected from the
marbling must be covered with a reserve, either of whitening mixed. with a
little gum water or slip and gum and sugar, or any other material already in
use as reserves. If two different sorts of marbling are wanted on the same
article, I cover the part not to be marbled with No. 1 marble with reserve; I
marble the part which is uncovered, and dipping the article in water I remove
the reserve. I then allow the ware to get quite dry, and putting reserve
over the part marbled with No. 1 marble, I cover the unprotected part
with No. 2 marble, and wash off the reserve. The ware is now covered with
two distinct sorts of marbles, and beautiful results, combining various colored
marbles, can be thus obtained. When the inner surface of a basin or other
similar article is to be marbled, I bend a small piece of leaden pipe P (see
Fig. 3) into the shape of syphon, and introduce one end of the interior of the
article, which must be let down into the bath bottom upwards. The upper
end of the pipe P is jagged or pierced with holes to allow the confined air in
the basin to enter the pipe and find its way out. In effecting the marbling
of the inner surface of the basin, I hold the pipe in one hand and the basin
A, A, in the other hand. I then gradually plunge the basin into the bath,
the surface of which is marbled beforehand, as above described, and gently
turn it at the same time from right to left or from left to right; this circular.
motion is to enable the marbling to adhere to the inside of the basin in a
manner more agreeable to the eye. The articles marbled are, when dry, to
follow the usual course of manipulations applied to earthenwares, glazing,
firing, &c. When the process of marbling is to be used upon glazed ware,
I grind the colors with oil instead of water; of course in this case the colors
used must be those employed for over-glaze. Previous to applying the
marbling I wash the article to be ornamented with a thin solution of rosin or
of Canada balsam, or of any similar substance, in spirits of turpentine or any
similar solvent, to enable the oil colors to adhere to the glaze. On taking the
ware out of the bath, it is better not to dip them in water till the colors are
dry. Reserves of whitening, &c., as above explained, can be. likewise
employed for giving a varied marble pattern to glazed ware as well as articles
in the bisque or porous state. This over-glaze marbling can be used with
great effect in conjunction with painting and batt printing; and thus producing
novel and pleasing effects.
Having now fully described my Improvements in Producing Patterns upon
Earthenware and Porcelain; I would have it understood that I claim under the
above in part recited Letters Patent,-
First, the application of the marbling process generally for obtaining

page_text: epresentations of real or fancy marbles upon earthenware and porcelain, both
in their porous or bisque and glazed state; and,
Secondly, the mode, herein described, of obtaining upon one article a com-
bination of variously colored marble patterns.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Joseph Hullmandel, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.