AN IMPROVED MODE OF DECORATING PANNELS, SLABS, OR BLOCKS FOR BUILDINGS, AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Brannon, of 54, Parliament Street, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE
OF DECORATING PANNELS, SLABS, OR BLOCKS FOR BUILDINGS, AND OTHER USEFUL
PURPOSES.
وو
Scaled the 23rd October 1874, and dated the 28th April 1874.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Philip Brannon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 28th April 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHILIP
BRANNON, of 54, Parliament Street, in the County Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE
OF DECORATING, PANNELS, SLABS, OR BLOCKS FOR BUILDINGS, AND OTHER USEFUL
PURPOSES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and
first inventor thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said Imp brannon, Ɑo nereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed in and by the following
statement:
My Invention has reference to the mode of producing pictorial flush
decorations in the solid substance of the facing of any natural stone
scantling or slab of artificial stone, marble, cement, or plaster, and the
like, or in the surface of monolithic or stone, wood slabs, or pieces, and
which mode of decoration I term stone pictures or pictoliths, and
consists,―
Firstly. In obtaining facsimiles of engravings or etched and bitten-in
designs and pictures on the said slabs or pieces by affixing to the bed or
mould in or upon which such pieces are formed, an electrotype, stereo-
type, or cast of the engraving or other pattern forming the decoration,
so that the lines or intervals to appear on the finished slabs or pieces in
color different from the ground are to be raised parts on the mould. The
cements, plasters, and other materials of the slab facing are first ground
exceedingly fine and carefully prepared and gauged, so as to ensure the
proper impressions of the raised lines from the mould, and render tho
surface of the piece or slab capable of bearing the friction incidental to
polishing the same. The fine stuff on being laid in, the whole mass is
solidified, pressed, and dried in the manner suitable to the nature of the
combination employed, and when removed from the press, mould, or
casting slab, the impression is filled in with very finely ground cements
and colors or inks, either as monotint or polychrome, and either forth with
rubbed off and polished in the manner of copper plate printing, or filled
in dried and hardened before being rubbed down and polished off flush
to the surface of the piece, the finishing in this case being done in the
manner of marble polishing.
Secondly. In executing engravings, incised drawings, and dry etchings.
directly on the slabs themselves by means of tools suitable for sinking or
cutting the material employed, the piece or slab is prepared to a
sufficient depth of finely ground materials, rendered when requisite more
coherent by the use of gums, oils, or resins, as otherwise described in my
former Patent No. 1246, 10th April 1874, and when the surface of the
mass is sufficiently set to be operated upon, but whilst still soft and

page_text: yielding, the design can be sunk in with a style or puncturing or cutting
tool or by impressing figured stamps, or if deferred until the substance.
is fully set and hard, the artist then etches, engraves, or cuts out with
suitable incising tools the design outline or picture, and when completed
the incised lines and other sinkings are filled in, cleaned, and polished
off as above described for impressed designs from moulds.
Thirdly. In producing such pictorial designs in the surfaces of
artificial slabs or blocks of natural stone by first protecting such
surfaces with an etching ground, then etching the design and biting in
to a sufficient depth, or else by sketching the design with a pen, pencil,
or brush in a soluble ink, paint, or crayon, and then protecting the
surface before biting in. In any variations off this biting in method
of obtaining the cavities or sinkings, the acid used and the compounding
of the ground in its double relation to the acid and stone are necessarily
and wholly dependant on the chemical elements of the material
employed and when these operations are completed the erosions are filled
in and polished off as before explained. I employ either modification of
the said process of decorating slabs for walls, doors, pannelled work, or
any ornamental purposes, and according to the proposed use of the piece
I mingle the various stuffs, inks, or colored fillings either with water as
usual or with gummy or gelatinous solutions or with oil or other media,
and finish with the dressings as aforesaid, or as otherwise in use amongst
mastic and ornamental plaster and marble workers.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise details above given, nor do I claim the exclusive use of the
several materials and processes referred to except when the same are
used in and for the purposes of this my said Invention which I hereby
declare to consist,―
Firstly. In impressing a copy of any engraving or incised drawing
upon slabs of plaster, cement, and artificial stone or marble, or upon
monolithic or stone, wood pieces, and filling in the said impressions with
white or colored materials, and cleaning off the surfaces of the pieces in
the manner and for the purposes herein-before firstly described.
Secondly. In stamping, incising, engraving, etching, or style sinking
the pictorial designs in the surfaces of slabs of cement or plaster,
monolithic or stone, wood material whilst in a soft or indurated state,

page_text: and filling in such sinkings or incisions with colored cements or inks,
and finishing the said surface as herein-before secondly described.
Thirdly, and lastly. In executing the pictures and ornamental designs
in the faces of slabs of artificial or natural stone by means of biting in in
the manner employed by artists for the production of bitten-in etchings,
or chalk drawings, the design being either first executed by etching
through an overlaid ground, or by soluble pen or brush work preceding
the ground laying, and the erosions filled and cleaned off flush as herein-
above thirdly described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Brannon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of
T
11
1 iht handund and sorrenty four
Witness,
B. F. WEATHERDON,
Law Chambers,
Chancery Lane.
PHILIP BRANNON. (L.S.).
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