IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING ON AND ORNAMENTING SURFACES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Felix Abate, of 21, George Street, Hampstead Road,
Architect and Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRINTING ON AND ORNAMENTING SURFACES."
Sealed the 12th May 1854, and dated the 4th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by "the said Felix Abate at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
March 1854.
1; FELIX ABATE, of 21, George Street, Hampstead Road, Architect and
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRINTING ON AND ORNAMENTING SURFACES ".to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention. is to make imitations or representations of
natural and, artificial objects. This I do by wetting the surface of the object
I wish to represent with diluted acid, or acid, salt, or exposing it to the vapours
of an acid.. I then print with it on any vegetable substance, such as wood,
calico, paper, &c.; then I expose the latter for a few moments to a strong
heat. Or also, I do that by wetting the surface of this natural or artificial
object with a non-crystallizable mordant; then I print with it, and afterwards
I dye the article. Or also, I do the same by dyeing the article first, and then
:

page_text: I print on it with a discharging fluid. When the object I wish to imitate is
a fabric, I do it besides, by the above processes, by embossing a sheet of tin-
foil upon the fabric through pressure between two sheets of vulcanized india-
rubber, and then passing the sheet of tin-foil through a bath made of dyeing
stuffs, thickened with any adhesive and transparent mixture, such as glue,
gum, sugar, lichen, &c. When the surface to be printed on by the above or
any other processes is hard or curved, then I previously take the impression
on a sheet of vulcanized india-rubber stretched on a frame. I then lay this
sheet on the surface, over which sheet I lay a cushion of vulcanized india-
rubber or gutta percha filled with water, and on this cushion I lay a block of
the exact shape of the surface. Lastly, I subject the whole to the action of
the press.
Or also, I paint on a thin sheet of glue and sugar, or lichen, or any other
soluble and adhesive composition, and I stick this on the article.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Felix Abate in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FELIX
ABATE, of 21, George Street, Hampstead Road, Architect and Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Felix Abate, Her special licence that I, the said Felix Abate,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Felix
Abate, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
ON AND ORNAMENTING SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Felix Abate, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner: the same was to be performed, and cause the

page_text: 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 Felix Abate, 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):
The object of my Invention is to make imitations or representations of
natural and artificial objects, by printing with the objects themselves upon any.
suitable substance. This I do by means of different processes, according to
the nature of the objects which I intend to imitate or represent, and the sur-
face upon which the imitation or representation is to be made. I will describe:
these processes:-
When the object to print with is of a porous and absorbent nature, and the
surface upon which the print is to be made is a vegetable substance, such
as wood, calico, paper, papier maché, &c., I employ two different processes.
By the first process I wet the surface of the printing object with any acid or
solution of an acid salt, either of them being more or less diluted with water,
according to the depth of tone which I intend to give to the impression, and
then I wipe it well with a cloth. Then I print with this object, and imme-
diately after I expose the impression, for a few instants, to the action of a
strong heat, when the impression will appear. Lastly, I dye the impression
thus obtained of the colour of the original object, or also I cover it with a
varnish having the desired colour. By the other process I wet the surface of
the printing object with any of those fluids, either acids or alkalies, or salts, or
sulphurets, which, under the names of mordants or discharges are used in
dyeing woven stuffs, and then I wipe it well off from the surface. Then I
print with this object, and I finish the dyeing of the printed article in the
ordinary ways used for fabrics. Or also I prepare the article before in a
mordant or coloring bath, and I print it afterwards as above. Sometimes I
employ for this process the resist printing, by wetting the surface of the object
with oil, wiping it well, as above, and printing with it. However, in such case I
prepare the article with the mordant before the impression, and I give it the
coloring after the impression. I employ this second process for printing, not
only upon vegetable, but generally upon any absorbent surface, such as fabrics,
leather, &c.
When the surface upon which I want to print is a metallic one, as tin, tin- .
plate, zinc, copper, &c., I wet the object to print with, with a solution of a
salt of copper, or antimony, or with any of those fluid compositions which are
used to give a. bronze color to metals; I then wipe it well, and then I print..

page_text: Lastly, I colour the printed surface, either with a coloured varnish or with a
colour made from dyeing stuffs, thickened with a mixture of glue or gum
and sugar or lichen, in the proportion. of two parts of glue or gum. and
one of sugar or lichen, or with any other soluble, transparent, and adhesive.
composition.
When I want to print upon any non-absorbent surface, 'I prepare the sur-
face by coating it with any vegetable or animal matter in fine powder, or in
flock, which I make to adhere by means of, any glue, and then I print upon
such surface by any of the first two described processes.
I apply the above described processes principally to make imitations of ve-
neering wood, either simple or ornamented with .inlaid work, besides to many
other purposes.
When I want to print imitations of marble I employ two
different processes. By the first process I make 'first a composition by mixing
together pell-mell crystals of different metallic and earthy salts, acids, and
alkalies, such as, for instance, crystals of sulphate of iron, sulphate of copper,
hydro-chlorate of tin, tartaric acid, carbonate of soda, &c.; and I cement all
of them in one mass by any salt melted in its water of crystallization, such as
alum, sal ammoniac, &c. I make with such composition a flat or cylindrical
block, and I print with such block upon any absorbent surface by wetting the
block with water: Lastly, when the impression thus obtained is dry, I plunge.
it into a bath prepared with any dyeing stuff, according to the effect which-I
intend to produce. By the other' process I make, first, a composition, by
mixing together different metallic ochre, or earthy colors, each of them made
into a paste by the admixture of a suitable quantity of gum water, or of
linseed oil thickened with melted rosin. I make with this composition a flat
or cylindrical block, and I print with this block, wetting it for every impression
with water when the colors have been mixed with gum, and with essential oil
of turpentine when the colors' have been mixed with linseed oil and rosin. I
print these imitations of marble not only direct upon any suitable substance;
such as paper, fabrics, oil cloth; &c., but I also transfer them from paper by
the well-known transfer process, upon any article made of whatever material
and in any shape.
When I want to produce imitations of figured or damasked satin, I proceed
as follows:-I take a sheet of tin-foil and I lay it upon a piece of the silk
stuff which I intend to imitate, placing both between two pieces of vulcanized
india-rubber. Then I press the whole between a pair of rollers, or under any
other press, which causes the figuring of the cloth to be, impressed upon the
metallic sheet. Then I color this sheet of any required color,' using for 'such
purpose colors extracted from dyeing stuffs, and thickened with the abovesaid

page_text: adhesive composition. Sometimes I emboss the metallic sheet, in the described
way, upon a piece of embossed paper or calico, and then I color it as above,
in which manner I make imitations of any fancy paper. Sometimes, also, I
emboss the tin-foil, instead of using the above described process, by passing it
under metallic plates or rollers, engraved according to the design which I
intend to produce, and then I colour it as above.
The last part of my Invention is an apparatus for printing upon hard or
carved surfaces. This apparatus is as follows:-A sheet of vulcanized india-
rubber is stretched on a frame. I make the impression upon this sheet, and I
lay it, with the impression downwards, upon the said surface; then I lay upon
the sheet a cushion of vulcanized india-rubber or gutta percha filled with
water, and I lay upon this cushion a block of the shape of the said surface;
then I subject the whole to the action of the press. By this means the
impression is transferred from the sheet of india-rubber to the surface which
is required to print on.
What I claim is,-
First, the above said processes for making imitations or representations of
natural and artificial objects, by printing them with the objects themselves.
Second, the above said process for ornamenting thin sheets of metal to
make imitations of silks, &c.
Third, the above said apparatus and process for printing on surfaces of any
form or shape.
In witness whereof, I, the said Felix Abate, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord, One.
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
GEO. PITT,
4, Old Square.
FELIX ABATE. (L.S.)