IMPROVE- MENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE OF DECORATIVE TILES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Cryer, of Southport, and of 15, Water Street,
Liverpool, both in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE OF DECORATIVE TILES." A
communication from abroad by John G. Low, and Charles Austin Wellington,
and William C. Burrage, all of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, United
States of America.
Sealed the 21st October 1879, and dated the 29th April 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Cryer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th April 1879.
JOHN HENRY CRYER, of Southport, and of 15, Water Street, Liverpool, both in
the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE
OF DECORATIVE 'I ILES." [A communication from abroad by John G. Low, and
Charles Austin Wellington, and William C. Burrage, all of Boston, in the State of
Massachusetts, United States of America.]
Decorative tiles may be classified according to their decorations into four general
sorts, first, those made with flat surfaces, and either of a natural or artificial
monochrome without designs, called "self-coloured tiles," or ornamented with
surface enamel, or painting in outline, monochrome, or polychrome; second, those
Dinde with flat surfaces, inlaid in chromatic patterns to a slight depth, otherwise
known as "encaustic tiles;" third, those made with desigus in relief; fourth, those
made with irregular, incised, indented, or depressed designs, having texture in the
depressions. Either of the last two sorts may be painted in monochrome or poly-
chrome, and either of the four sorts may be glazed either with a colourless glaze, or
with a coloured glaze, or may be enameled.
The distinction now insisted upon is the condition of the exposed surface, whether
plane or irregular, either by relief or intaglio ornamentation.
The first part of these improvements relates to means of decorating the surface
by intaglio and relief ornamentation.
The second part of these improvements relates to means of providing the backs
of tiles with dovetailed or cramping grooves or holding places for attachment.

page_text: STATE OF THE ART.-Prior to 1840 all tiles, so far as known, were made from
wet clay beat up in molds, at first in plaster mold, and later in brass molds. In that
year the Prosser Patent was taken in England, June 17th, for compressing buttons
from clay dust, and was subsequently applied to the manufacture of tiles by the
Mintons, Maw, and others. By this process flat tile were produced by compression
in molds from dry clay dust; and either by arabesque designs on the face of the
plunger or platen, usually the plunger, of the mold, or by engraving-tools, an
indentation was produced, into which "slip" was introduced, which on firing formed
the chromatic pattern inlaid on the flat surface.
Another and later method of using dust-clay is known as the "Boulton and
Worthington process," and used by Malkin and Company. It consists in the use of
metallic boxes, fitted with plungers and fashioned like the arabesques or other pat-
terns to be used as ornaments, in which the "design clay " dusts are compressed within
a frame, which frame is afterward, the boxes and plungers being first removed, filled
with clay dust of the ground colour, which is compressed within the frame and
around the pattern made as stated, and the whole then fired, but up to the present
time, as far as is known, no relief tile or intaglio tiles having texture in the
depressions have been inale in whole or in part by compression out of clay dust,
and certainly no tiles having "undercut" designs have been made in any part out
of compressed clay dust.
This present Invention, so far as it relates to surfacing tile, consists in the pro-
duction and preparation of the molds for embo-sing or indenting tile made of clay-
dust, to the preservation and use of such molds, to the formation of "undercut" figures
by the aid of such molds, and to the making of compact homogeneous clay-dust
tiles, having surfaces ornamented in relief or intaglio having texture.
Take a plastic material like paraffine, and place it in the tile-frame of the tile
compressing machine, and subject it to pressure, thus producing a flat thin plastic
plate of about the thickness of a tile, or take a quantity of clay dust and similarly
compress it, and saturate said dust with paraffine; the upwardly presenting surface
of this plate is then plentifully sprinkled with pulverized plumbago, which is
compressed into the surface of the plate.
The compressed plate may now be engraved with any desired pattern, and care
being taken to cover with black-lead powder, brushed on with naptha or any
other solvent of paraffine as a vehicle, or dusted onto a slightly-warmed surface or
stippled on with a stippling-brush, the parts denuded by engraving can be used as
an electrotype mold to make a reverse, and the electrotype used as a matrix to
make an obverse. The-e electrotypes, well backe i, as when used for printing, and
set in steel or other strong boxes to prevent crush of the backing, will serve as dies
for making the int glios and reliefs for stamping tile in dry cay dust.
In case high reliefs are desired, the paraffine (or better, the clay and paraffine)
plate may be carved as desired, carefully avoiding undercutting, and then covered
with its plumbago surface, by the naptha process, or by stippling and electrotyped,
and used as the die.
When high reliefs, which it is desirable to undercut, are to be made, the mold is
made so that the compressed clay will draw, and the main part of the design being
thus formed, the modeller carves the undercutting by hand, the clay being sufficiently
tenacious when compressed to allow this, and the finished tile, partly hand-made
and partly machine-made, is then fired.
For obtaining textures, low reliefs, or int glios of natural objects, and the like, if
desired, the use of the paratine plate may be made as described above, with
plumbago surface for electrotyping, but instead of engraving it, an impression is
formed in its black-leaded surface by the objects to be represented in the manner
hereinafter described for unleaded paraffine or clay dust. It is preferred however,
as it gives great variety in design with slight expense, to adopt the following
manipulation-Having formed the compressed plate as already described, raise in
the tile frame of the tile machine the lower platen till the upper surface of the

page_text: compressed plate is conveniently near the top of the frame, and compose upon the
surface, by laying thereon bits of woven stuff, lace, pieces of embossed paper, leather,
or other fabric, leaves, grasses, flowers, or other objects having suitable textures and
outlines, such a design as will be attractive. Then lower the platen to place, and
bring down the plunger with strong compression upon the objects. By this means
they are indented in outline and texture in the plastic or clay dust surface, even
overlays being represented with an accuracy absolutely true to nature and always
in intaglio.
As already anid, this intaglio may be used as a mold for electrotypes, when
properly made, by use of pulverized plumbago as a surfacing agent, but usually take
this matriz so made and place over it a diaphragm of thin tough material; a rubber
film will serve, and many other materials, but the best and cheapest yet found is the
thin Japanese paper of uniform texture and great toughness, such as appears in the
Japanese handkerchiefs and napkins so called. This diaphragm must exactly cover
the surface of the intaglio. Upon it is next laid the dust of surface and body clay
of the tile to be embossed, which is subjected to compression in the ordinary way,
and thereupon, on raising the plunger and platen the intaglio and relief may be
separated, the diaphragm peeled by aid of a sharp tool to start it from the die,
usually the relief, to which it generally if not always adheres, and the intaglio will
usually, with proper care in handling, be found perfectly uninjured during several
hundred impressions.
When the surface is of one clay and the body of another, each clay is to be sepa-
rately compressed unless sgraffito effects are desired, in which case the surface layer
must be carefully applied, so as to not cover the pattern desired to be of the colour
of the 1ody clay.
The sharpness and definition of texture of reliefs made from dust clay intaglios
are very remarkable, and tile compressed from dust from its homogeneous quality
is much less likely to warp or shrink unevenly in firing than any other, particularly
if packed in a less fusible powder, like quartz grains, or ganister, in firing, as is not
unusual with terra-cotta relief work. By these means, what has long been a
desideratum in relief tile work is obtained, a compact homogeneous embossed tile
of uniform quality and slight shrinkage, more surely than has ever been done
before.
It may often be desirable to obtain in tile both the relief and intaglio of the
impression in the clay dust. In this case the relief can be used upon the platen in
the same way as the intaglio. Two of these tile, an intaglio and a relief, may be
placed face to face in the seggar for firing, and usually will separate on removal,
but it is prefered to insure this by leaving the paper diaphragin between them.
In case the design is to be reproduced smaller, the shrunk tired tile may be black-
lended and electrotyped.
Of course these tile may have their intaglios filled with, or their reliefs covered
with, kiln colours, slip, or enamel, either while simply clay or after firing, in any
way and at any time proper in tile-making for such application, but this is no part
of this Invention.
No good method of fixing wall tiles has yet been contrived, except those used by
the ancients of flanging or beveling the edges backward and forward on alternate
sides, or in alternating section on the same side, or in constructing them with holes
partly parallel to their surfaces for cramps or wires extending into the plastic
cement, all of which are costly, and none of which are adapted for compressed clay-
dust work.
Lately on occasions, in wet clay work, undercut camp-grooves have been made
by hand, but these are costly and inapplicable to dust work.
Employ the following means for forming dovetailed grooves on the backs of
tile-Cut one or more pieces of wood of dovetailed cross-section to such length as
may be desirable, usually long enough to extend clear across one way, and lay them
on the platen of the tile machine narrow side down, and fill in the clay dust upon

page_text: them, or place them on top of the filled in dust narrow side up, according as the
face of the tile is to be up or down. In compression the narrow face of the wood
will be level with the back of the tile, and the clay dust will mold round it. In
firing these formers will burn out, leaving their grooves, and this, if the wood be
soft, light, and dry, without much if any chance of injury to the tile.
Many things may be used as substitutes for paraffines, such as waxes and com-
pounds of waxes, resins, gums, but it is not requisite to enumerate them, as they
would clearly be equivalents if their qualities of toughness, flexibility, and plasticity
resembled those of paraffine.
The dust used should be fine enough to pass a one-hundred-inesh sieve at
largest.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Cryer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th
October 1879.
JOHN HENRY CRYER, of Southport, and of 15, Water Street, Liverpool, both in
the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE
OF DECORATIVE TILES." A communication from abroad by John G. Low, and
Charles Austin Wellington, and William C. Burrage, all of Boston, in the State of
Massachusetts, United States of America.
Decorative tiles may be classified according to their decorations into four general
sorts; first, those made with flat surfaces and either of a natural or artificial
monochrome without designs called "self colored" tiles, or ornamented with surface-
enamel or painting in outline, monochrome or polychrome; second, those made
with flat surfaces inlaid in chromatic patterns to a slight deptli, otherwise known
as "encaustic tiles; " third, those made with designs in relief; fourth, those made
with irregular, incised, indented, or depressed designs, having texture in the
depressions. Either of the last two sorts may be painted in monochrome or poly-
chrome, and either of the four sorts may be glazed either with a colourless glaze or
with a coloured glaze, or may be enameled.
The distinction now insisted upon is the condition of the exposed surface
whether plane or irregular, either by relief or intaglio ornamentation.
The first part of these improvements relates to means of decorating the surface.
by intaglio and relief ornamentation.
The second part of these improvements relates to means of providing the backs
of tiles with dovetailed or crainping grooves or holding places for attachment.
STATE OF THE ART.-Prior to 1840 all tiles so far as known were made from wet
clay beat up in molds, at first in plaster molds, and later in brass inolds. In that
year the Prosser Patent was taken in England, June 17, for compressing buttons
from clay dust, and was subsequently applied to the manufacture of tiles by the
Mintons, Maw, and others. By this process flat tiles were produced by compression
in molds from dry clay dust, and either by arabesque designs on the face of the
plunger or platen, usually the plunger of the mold, or by engraving tools, an indention
was produced into which "slip" was introduced which on firing formed the
chromatic pattern inlaid on the flat surface.
Another and later method of using dust-clay is known as the "Boulton and
Worthington" process, and used by Malkin & Co. It consists in the use of metallic
boxes fitted with plungers and fashioned like the arabesques or other patterns to be
used as ornaments, in which the "design-clay" dusts are compressed within a frame,
which frame is afterward, the boxes and plungers being first removed, filled with
clay dust of the ground colour which is compressed within the frame and around
the pattern made as stated and the whole then fired, but up to the present time
no relief-tiles or intaglio tiles having texture in the depressions have been made in
whole or in part by compression out of clay dust, and certainly no tiles having
"undercut" designs have been made in any part out of compressed clay dust.
This Invention so far as it relates to surfacing tile consists in the production and
preparation of the molds for embossing or indenting tile made of clay dust to the
preservation and use of such molds, to the formation of undercut figures by the aid
of such molds, and to the making of compact homogeneous clay-dust tiles having
surfaces ornamented in relief or intaglio having texture.
In the Drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of a tile with an intaglio figure thereon
representing its use as a mold; Figure 2 is a plan of a tile with a figure in relief
thereon, also representing its use as a mold; Figure 3 is a cross-section illustrating
the manner of their use, all of which will hereinafter be more fully set forth.
Take a plastic material like paraffine and place it in a tile frame of the tile

page_text: compressing machine and subject it to pres-ure, thus producing a flat thin plastic
plate of about the thickness of a tile, or take a quantity of clay dust and similarly
compress it and saturate said dust with paraffine. The upwardly presenting surface
of this plate is then plentifully sprinkled with pulverized plumbago which is com-
pressed into the surface of the plate.
The compressed plate may now be engraved with any desired pattern, and care
being taken to cover with black-lead powder brushed on, with naphtha, or any
other solvent of paraffine, as a vehicle, or dusted on to a slightly warmed surface or
stippled on with a stippling brush, the parts denuded by engraving can be used as
an electrotype mold to make a reverse, and the electrotype used as a matrix to
make an obverse. These electrotypes well backed, as when used for printing, and
set in steel or other strong boxes to prevent crush of the backing, will serve as dies
for making the intaglios and reliefs for stamping tile in dry clay-dust.
In case high reliets are desired the araffine (or better, the clay and paraffine)
plate may be carved as desired, carefully avoiding undercutting, and then cover d
with its plumbago surface by the naptha process or stippling and electrotyped and
used as the dic.
When high reliefs which it is desirable to undercut are to be made the mold is
made so that the compressed clay will draw, and the main part of the design being
thus formed the modeller curves the under cutting by hand, the clay being
sufficiently tenacious when compressed to allow this, and the finished tile, partly
hand made and partly machine made, is then fired.
For obtaining textures, low reliefs, or intaglios of natural objects and the like if
desired, the use of the paraffine plate may be made as des ribed above with plumbago
surface for electiotyping, but instead of engraving it an impression is formed in its
black-leaded surface by the objec's to be represented in the manner hereinafter
described for unleaded paraffine or clay dust. It is preferred however as it gives
great variety in design with slight expense to adopt the following manipulation:-
Having formed the compressed plate, as already described, raise in the tile frame of
the tile machine the lower platen till the upper surface of the compressed plate is
conveniently near the top of the frame, and compose upon the surface by laying
thereon bits of woven stuff, lace, pieces of embossed paper, leather, or other fabric,
leaves, grasses, flowers, or other objects having suitable textures and outlines, such a
design as will be attractive. Then lower the laten to place and bring down the
plunger with strong compression upon the objects. By this means they are
indented in outline and texture in the plastic or clay dust surface, even overlays
being represented with an accuracy absolutely true to nature and always in
intaglio.
1
As already said this intaglio may be used as a mold for electrotypes when
properly made by use of pulverized plumbago as a surfacing agent, but usually take
this matrix so made and place over it a diaphragm of thin touch material, a rubber
film will serve, and many other materials, but the best and cheapest yet found is
the thin Japanese paper, of uniform texture and great tougliness, such as appears in
the Japanese handkerchiefs and napkins so called. This diaphragm must exactly
cover the surface of the intaglio. Upon it is next laid the dust of surface and body-
clay of the tile to be embossed, which is subjected to compression in the ordinary
way, and thereupon on raising the plunger and platen the intaglio and relief mny
be separated, the diaphragm peeled by aid of a sharp tool to start it from the die,
usually the relief to which it generally if not always adheres, and the intaglio will
usually with proper care in handling be found perfectly uninjured during several
hundred impressions.
When the surface is of one clay and the body of another, each clay is to be
separately compressed, unless agraffito effects are desired, in which case the surface
layer must be carefully applied so as not to cover the pattern desired to be of the
colour of the body-clay.
The sharpness and definition of texture of relief made from dust clay intaglios
are very remarkable, and tile compressed from dust from its homogeneous quality

page_text: is much less likely to warp or shrink unevenly in firing than any other, particularly
if packed in a less fusible powder, like quartz grains or ganister in firin, as is not
unusual with terra-cotta relief-work. By these menus, what has long been a
desideratum in relief tile work is obtained, a compact homogeneous emboss-d tile
of uniform quality and slight shrinkage more surely than has ever been done
before.
It may often be desirable to obtain in tile both the relief and intaglio of the
impression in the clay-dust. In this case the relief can be used upon the platen in.
the same way as the intaglio. Two of these tile, an intaglio and a relief, may be
placed face to face in the seggar for firing, and usually will separate on removal, but
it is preferred to insure this by leaving the paper diaphragm between them.
In case the design is to be reproduced smaller, the shrunk fired tile may be
black-leaded and electrotyped.
Of course these tile may have their intaglios filled with or their reliefs covered
with kiln, colours, slip, or enamel, either while simply clay or after firing, in any
way and at any time proper in tile-making for such application, but this is no part
of this Invention.
No good method of fixing wall-tiles has yet been contrived except those used by
the ancients of flanging or bevelling the edges backward and forward on alternate
sides, or in alternating section on the same side, or in constructing them with holes
partly parallel to their surfaces for cramps or wires extending into the plastic
cement, all of which are costly, and none of which are adapted for compressed
clay-dust work.
Lately, on occasions, in wet clay work, undercut cramp grooves have been made
by hand, but these are costly and inapplicable to dust work.
Employ the following means for forming dovetailed grooves on the backs of
tiles Cut one or more pieces of wood of dove-tailed cross section to such length
as may be desirable, usually long enough to extend clear across one way, and lay
them on the platen of the tile-machine, narrow side down, and fill in the clay dust
upon them, or place them on the top of the filled_in_clay-dust, narrow side up,
according as the fare of the tile is to be up or down. In compression, the narrow
face of the wood will be level with the back of the tile, and the clay-dust will mold
round it. In firing, these formers will burn out, leaving their grooves, and this, if
the wood be soft, light, and dry, without much, if any, chance of injury to the
tile.
Many things may be used as substitutes for paraffines, such as waxes and com.
pounds of waxes, resins, gums, but it is not requisite to enumerate them, as they
would clearly be equivalents if their qualities of toughness, flexibility, and plasticity
resembled those of paraffine.
The dust used should be fine enough to pass a one-hundred mesh sieve at
largest.
What I claim as the Invention communicated to me by my foreign correspondent
is,―
First. The carved paraffine matrix surfaced with plumbago as an electrotype-
mold for tile dies.
Second. The paraffine matrix formed by compression, coated with plumbago, as
described, and carrying incised or indented patterns as an electrotype-mold for
tile-dies.
Third. The method of preparing an electrotype mold for tile dies from paraffine
by the following manipulations:-By compression into a plate, by coating the
surface of said plate with plumbago dust, incorporated there with as described, and
by compressing into such plumbago coated surface objects of various textures and
outlines, substantially as described.
Fourth. The method of preparing an electrotype mold for tile-dies from paraffine
by the following manipulations in their order: -By compression into a plate, by
carving the surface to the desired form, and by the incorporation therowith of
plumbago dust, all substantially as described.
1

page_text: Fifth. The electrotype-mold for tile-dies formed of compressed clay-dust and
paraffine, and having a surface of relief or intaglio prepared, and surfaced with
plumbago, substantially as described.
Sixth. The intaglio or relief compressed paraffine die surfaced with a thin dia-
phragm of sufficient flexibility and toughness, made and used substantially as
described.
Seventh. The intaglio or relief compressed clay-dust die surfaced with a thin
diaphragm of sufficient flexibility and toughness, made and used substantially as
described.
Eighth. The compressed homogeneous clay dust tile having relief figures shaped
by compression on all the surfaces that will draw and undercut by hand, substan-
tially as described.
Ninth. The compressed homogeneous clay dust tile with intaglio or relief designs
upon the surface, substantially as described.
Tenth. The compressed clay-dust tile with intaglio or relief designs upon its
Burface, reproducing by transfer the textures of actual objects, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Cryer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
JOHN HENRY (L.S.) CRYER.