IMPROVEMENTS IN EASELS.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Mar., 1886.
Complete Left, 9th Dec., 1886.
Complete Accepted, 1st Feb., 1887.
I, MONTAGU BROWNE, Beaumanor Villas, Aylestone Park, Leicester, England
(Curator of the Town Museum, Leicester) do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
IMPROVEMENTS IN EASELS.
My invention consists of an Easel constructed in any material, combining suitable
supports, with a protective frame, or frames, to receive and retain any number of
Canvases, Panels, Millboards, Academy-boards, Cardboards, Drawing paper, Drawing-
boards, Sketch-blocks, Slates, Glass, China, Pottery, Iron or tin plates, or other
materials, on one or both sides, and arranged in such a manner that the outer
materials protect the inner, either before or after working upon. It is available as a
whole or in part, as a "Studio," "Sketching," or "Table" easel. It can be made of
any shape, or of any size, to hold as many materials, diverse in size or character, as
the extreme size of the frame will permit. For instance, a frame, with extra pieces
(which are a part of the frame) will carry several large surfaces, and by adjustment of
the extra pieces will carry a greater number of smaller surfaces, or artists' materials.
The parts of the frame are-
1 The sides, called hereafter the "side framing," are wider than thick, and are
protracted at their lower ends, beyond the fixed bottom or "bottom framing," to
allow for supports (see Item 8) to be affixed. On the edges may be screw-eyes stops
or catches, fixed or movable. On each side piece, at back and front, one or more
ledges, channels, or slots are made, to receive and allow the extra or sliding pieces
(see Items 5-6) to travel up or down.
The side framing may "rake" outwards for convenience, or for the sake of
appearance. Near, or on, the juction of the side framing with the fixed bottom, bands
or clips of any material, may be secured, as a whole or in part, to help retain the
supports (sec Item 8).
The top and bottom framing is fixed to the side framing, but whereas the top is
plain, and extends in width beyond the side framing, the bottom piece though of the
same width, is morticed or ledged in one or more places along its median line, for
the reception of the edges of plaques, plates, or other materials.
On each side of these mortice holes, or ledges, or channels, are other ledges or
channels, for the reception of millboards, panels, academy-boards, Paper (mounted or
unmounted) or other materials; which channels or grooves may be so arranged that
materials may be slid in, past the edges of the side framing.
Outside these again are ledges formed by rebating, or by any other method, on
037

page_text: which canvases, or paper blocks, or other materials rest and are retained in place by
strips, or blocks, or ledges, on the outer edges of the bottom-framing.
The top may, instead of being plain, be of the same pattern as the bottom-framing
or I may modify the entire framing by making it to take to pieces, or hinging it
either as a whole or in part. Or may reverse the order of the channels, grooves,
ledges, stops, and mortices, or arrange the frame or its parts to allow the materials to
be inserted or held in any position, other than that described. Or may increase the
number of grooves or ledges.
if not rebated
3-The retaining edges of the bottom-framing (or top-framing) may,
out of the solid, he preferably formed by planting on, strips of thin wood or other
material, kept in place by screw-eyes or similar appliances, arranged so that they
may cause the strips to exert unequal pressure, to admit of the retention of thick or
thin materials at will."
4 The screw-eyes, or similar appliances, serve also to hold in position lengthening
bars, or strips, or rods (see Item 10).
5 One or more false bottoms, or extra pieces, similar to the fixed bottom (see
Item 2) may be made and arranged to slide up or down the channels of the side-
framing, and may be cut. along their median line, so that they fit by their edges (as
halves) either at top or bottom or in the centre of the framing, on back or front at
will or in any position, in opposition to each other or meeting on their median lines,
so that they may receive and retain materials of any size. If more than one extra
piece is used, on each side, the intervening ones should be morticed, grooved,
channelled, rebated, ledged, or stopped, on both their under and upper surfaces.
They may be modified by being in one piece, as the fixed bottom, and travelling up
or down by being cut to receive the edges of the side framing.
Or they may travel on the frame without the intervention of the slots or channels.
6-The extra pieces are arrested and made fast at any point of the framing, by
screw-eyes, or thumb screws washers and nuts, working in the channels or slots,
arranged so as to allow of independent or combined action.
If, however, the extra pieces do not travel by means of channels or ledges on the
side-framing they may be arrested at any point by screws, screw eyes, or by pins
working in holes on the frame, or may be actuated by rackwork, or by clips, placed on
any part of the frame or extra pieces.
The extra pieces may have spring clips, or washers of leather or other material, on
their inner edges to assist in tightening them.
7-The supports or legs, of any material, are three or more in number, pinned,
screwed, jointed, hinged, or slotted, in one or more parts each, to fold or to slide, for
convenience of carriage or to regulate the height.
8 The two side legs or supports are each of two pieces. The first piece is slotted
or channelled throughout its length and working upon the side-framing by a pin or
thumbscrew, of any material, in such a manner as to slide up the side-framing under
the retaining band or clip provided for its reception (see Item 1). The slotting also
provides for its sliding up or down the second part of each support.
This second part is plain, the first working upon it by studs or screws, and by a
thumbscrew, screw-eye, or pin, which bind or loosen both at will. This latter thumb-
screw or pin, may be in connection with, or working through, a band or clip of any
material.
By these means progress is arrested at any point to regulate the height, and the
legs slide or fold up under the bottom-framing when required.
The hind-leg is made in three parts, the two bottom ones as last described, the
third or top part working, or loosened and stiffened, in the same manner as the others;
but is plain-not grooved or slotted. This top part is attached to the framing by a
hinged hook, or loop, or eye, or by clips or bands, of any material, working over a
stud or eye, fixed to the framing; and also by two subsidiary supports folding upon
the main one, but which extend outwards when required and push under, or are
clipped by, bands of any material, fixed in any position upon the framing:
All these supports are so arranged as to rest, when folded, along the top and bottom-

page_text: framing, not extending beyond, and can be retained (when folded) by small straps,
fixed or not, upon the framing.
or
I may modify these supports by hinging them, or by using "knuckle " "rule"
joints, or by using pins working in holes, separately or together, or may use rackwork
and pins. Or slot and channel-all or none. Or make them each as a whole without
jointing. Or may joint them by ferrules; and may make them round, angular, or of
any shape. May make more or less than thiree supports, and attach them to any part
of the framing. Or may make every part loose or fixed. Or may make framing and
supports in one.
9-To the bottoms of one or all of the supports, tent pegs, or similar appliances,
may be affixed-or spikes, or ferrules, one or all, to securely anchor the easel when
required.
10-The lengthening bar (mentioned in Item 4) is preferably a strip of light wood,
of any width or length, preferably jointed for convenience of carriage, and which by
means of pins, screws, or studs fixed in its edge, rests upon the screw-eyes of the
frame or extra pieces, and forms a support for the back of large canvases or other
materials of greater length or height than the frame itself.
One or more of these may be used, in any position, and may have clips or bands of
any material to hold large surfaces securely.
11-A brush-box, tray, or drawer may be fitted in any position on the frame,
preferably underneath, to hold colours, brushes, or other materials, and the palette, if
not folding, may be carried in the centre of the frame, between the pictures.
The following advantages are claimed for my invention:-It is light, portable, and
takes up less space for transport than any other easel. It is also easily put up or
taken down.
When put up it is firm, even to rigidity, and holds securely, objects or materials
required to be written, drawn, or painted upon, an advantage not possessed by any of
the easels now in use. It perfectly protects Canvases, Millboards, Academy-boards,
drawing paper, when mounted, Cardboards, and other materials, before or after being
drawn and painted upon, by the simple process of turning the wet materials face
inwards. Owing to the arrangement. of the framing none of the surfaces touch each
other, and four large, and a great number of smaller pictures or other materials, can
he carried, or left at home, without damage accruing-a manifest advantage in the
case of wet oils.
It is also reversible as a whole or in part, by the simple operation of turning the
back leg or support, thus giving the artist facilities for painting several pictures
without removal of those already finished.
By the intervention of the extra pieces, a number of pictures or materials, smaller
than the actual frame, can be held and protected, and the addition of the lengthening
bar enables very large pictures to be supported when required. By these means it is
quite interchangeable as regarding the kind of materials used. Plaques, Academy or
Mill-boards, Canvases, Drawing paper or boards, Paper blocks, can be worked upon at
the same time, without removal. The supports being independent of each other
enable one or more to be placed in a hollow, whilst another rests upon rising ground-
this also being an advantage not possessed by any other easel in use.
There are no loose pieces, excepting the hind leg, and the lengthening bar, neither
of which are small enough to be mislaid.
When put up the height can be quickly altered from standing to sitting, until it
finally becomes a table-easel. In this instance my combined easel does the work of
three ordinary ones, becoming at will a "Studio," "Sketching," and "Table" easel.
Finally the whole of the the materials required by an artist, ie the surfaces for
drawing or painting upon, the brushes, colours, palette and other materials, are
contained within the easel when carried.
MONTAGU DROWNE
Town Museum, Leicester.

page_text: My invention consists of an Easel constructed in any material, combining suitable
supports with a protective frame or frames, to receive and retain any number of
Canvases, Panels, Millboards, Academy-boards, Cardboards, Drawing-paper, Drawing-
boards, Sketch-blocks, Slates, Glass, China, Pottery, Iron or tin plates, or other
materials, on one or both sides, and arranged in such a manner that the outer materials
protect the inner, either before or after working upon. It is available as a "Studio,"
Sketching," or Table" easel. It can be made of any shape, or of any size, to hold
as many materials, diverse in size or character, as the extreme size of the frame will
permit. For instance, a frame with extra pieces (which are parts of the frame) will
carry several large surfaces, and, by adjustment of the extra pieces, will carry a greater
number of smaller surfaces or artists' materials.
7
The parts of the Frame are-
1-The Sides, called hereafter the "side-framing," (A) are wider than thick, and
are protracted at their lower ends, beyond the fixed bottom or "bottom-framing," to
allow for supports (see Item 8) to be affixed. On the edges may be screw-eyes, stops,
or catches, fixed or movable.
The side-framing may "
ance.
rake" outwards for convenience, or for the sake of appear-
At the lower portion of this, Studs, bolts, pegs, pins, scrows, thumbscrews,
singly or in conjunction with each other or with holes and slots, may retain and secure
the side supports, (see Item 8). Or these side supports may be attached to the frame
by hinges, straps, bands, or clips, in any material.
2-The top (B) and bottom-framing (C) is fixed to the side-framing, but, whereas
the top is plain, and extends in width beyond the side-framing, the bottom piece, though
of the same width, is norticed, or ledged in one or more places, along its median line,
for the reception of the edges of plaques, plates, or other materials desired to be
held in position.
On each side of these mortice-holes, or ledges, or channels are other ledges,
channels, or grooves, for the reception of Millboards, Panels, Academy-boards,
Paper (mounted or unmounted), or other materials; which channels or grooves may
be so arranged that materials may be slid in, past the edges of the side-framing.
Outside these again, are ledges formed by rebating, or by any other method, on which
canvases, or paper-blocks, or other materials rest and are retained in place by strips,
blocks, ledges, or catches on the outer edges.
The top inay, instead of being plain, be of the same pattern as the bottom-framing,
or I may modify the entire framing by making it to take to pieces, or hinging it,
either as a whole or in part, or may reverse the order of the channels, grooves, ledges,

page_text: stops, and mortices, or arrange the frame, or its parts, to allow the materials to be
inserted or held in any position other than that described, or may increase the number
of grooves or ledges.
3-The retaining edges of the bottom-framing (or top-framing) may, if not rebated
out of the solid, be preferably formed by planting on strips of thin wood or other
material, kept in place by screw-eyes or similar appliances, arranged so that they may
cause the strips to exert unequal pressure, to admit of the retention of thick or thin
materials at will. Or I may use catches, buttons, or other appliances on any part of
the frame without the intervention of strips, in order to retain canvases or other
materials.
4-The screw-eyes, or similar appliances, serve also to hold in position lengthening-
bars, or strips, or rods (see Item 10).
5 At some little distance from the side-framing are fixed strips, or rods (D) of
wood or other material, one or more, preferably two, upon which, and by the side-
framing, the false tops and bottoms or extra pieces" slide (see Items 6-7).
6-One or more false bottoms, "extra pieces" or "slides" (E) (according to the size
of the frame) similar to the fixed bottom (see Item 2) may be made and arranged to
slide up or down the sides and strips, by slots or mortices cut or keyed in the "slides,"
or these may travel on the frame without the intervention of the upright strips or rods, or
may travel in slots on the side-framing. When more than one is used, the centre slide
or other slides should be morticed, grooved, channelled, rebated, ledged, or stripped"
on both its upper and under surfaces. When necessary, the slides may be cut along
their median line, and may be made to work as halves at back and front independently
of each other.
7 The slides are arrested and made fast at any point of the side-framing by thumb-
screws (F) which, working through nuts from front edge to centre, press upon springs
fixed on their central inner face, and thus tighten up the slides upon the side-framing,
or upon the strips, or upon both, A and D.
Or I may use screws, screweyes, pins, studs, or clips, working in holes on the frame,
or upon the strips, or actuate the slides by rackwork.
8-The supports or legs, of any material, are three in number, pinned, screwed,
jointed, hinged, banded, strapped, or slotted, in one or more parts each, to fold or to slide,
for convenience of carriage, or to regulate the height.
The two side legs or supports are preferably of two pieces. The first piece (G¹) is
attached to the lowest part of the side-framing by-Lst, a pin, peg, stud, or screw, (H)
which acts as a pivot, upon which the leg folds under the frame when at rest, and 2nd
by a thumbscrew (1) working off the leg into a slot cut in the side-framing lower
down, and by which it is stiffened when in use. Or I may reverse the order of these
fastenings.
The second portion of the support (G) slides upon the first by bands or clips of
metal or other material, (K. K.) (preferably by two in opposition) and is tightened
upon the first at any point of its progress by a thumbscrew (L) working upon
a spring in almost the same manner as the slides are actuated (see Itein 7).
Or I may hinge the first part of the support to any portion of the frame, or
may slide it under a band, clip, or strap provided for its reception, and tighten up
by means of thumbscrews, screweyes, springs, clips, pins, or other appliances, or may
slot
any part for convenience.
The back support is preferably of three parts, the upper part (M³) being hinged,
bolted, pinned, screwed, or strapped to the top-framing, and is further stiffened by two
stays or supports, (N. N.) treated in like manner, running diagonally from it to the
top. The second part (M²) hinges upon the first, (at ) and is tightened up by a
thumbscrew (P) upon which it drops when unfolded. The third part (M) is precisely
similar to the second part of the side legs, and both second and third parts fold upon
the first when at rest. Or I may treat the first and second portions of the back
support in the same manner as the first and second portions of the side supports. If
requisite I may make the back support reversible.
All of these supports, both side and back, are so arranged as when folded to adapt

page_text: "
themselves to the size of the frame, not extending beyond its limits, and can be
retained, when not in use, by small straps, fixed or otherwise upon the framing. I may
modify all or any of these supports by hinging them, or by using "knuckle or
"rule" joints, or by using pins working in holes separately or together, or may use
rackwork, or use slots and keys, or bands, or straps, or may make them each as a
whole without jointing, or may joint them by ferrules, and may make them of any
shape, round, angular, or square. May make more or less than three supports, and
may attach them to any part of the framing, or may make every part loose or fixed, or
may make framing and supports in one.
9-To the bottom of one or all of these supports tent-pegs or similar appliances may
he affixed, or spikes or ferrules, one or all, to securely anchor the easel when required.
10 The lengthening-bar, mentioned in Item 4, is preferably a strip of light wood,
of any width or length, preferably jointed for convenience of carriage, and which, by
means of pins, screws, or studs fixed in its edge, rests upon the screw-eyes of the frame
or slides, and forms a support for the back of large canvases, or other materials; of
greater length or height than the frame itself.
One or more of these may be used in any position, and may have clips or bands of
any material, to hold large surfaces securely.
11 Abrush-box," tray, or drawer, may be fitted in any position on the frame,
preferably underneath, to hold colours, brushes, or other materials; and the palette, if
not folding, may be carried in the centre of the frame between the pictures.
12-Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1 That it is light, portable, quickly put up or taken down, and, with these
desiderata combines advantages not possessed by any other casel extant.
2-When put up, it is firm even to rigidity, and holds securely objects
or materials
required to be written, drawn, or painted upon, an advantage not possessed by any of
the easels now in use. It perfectly protects Canvases, Millboards, Academy-boards,
Drawing-paper when mounted, Cardboards, and other materials, before or after being
drawn or painted upon, by the simple process of turning the wet materials face
inwards. Owing to the arrangement of the framing, none of the surfaces touch each
other, and four large, or a greater number of smaller pictures or other materials, can
be carried without damage accruing, a manifest advantage in the case of wet oils.
3-By the intervention of the extra pieces, a number of pictures or materials,
smaller than the actual frame, can be held and protected, and the addition of the
lengthening-bar enables very large pictures to be supported when required. By these
means it is quite interchangeable as regarding the kind of materials used. Plaques,
Academy or Millboards, Canvases, Drawing-paper or boards, Paper-blocks, can be
worked upon at the same time, without removal.
4-The supports, being independent of each other, enable one or more to be placed
in a hollow, whilst another rests upon rising ground-this also being an advantage not
possessed by any other casel in use.
5-When put up, the height can be quickly altered from standing to sitting, until it
finally becomes a table easel. In this instance my combined easel does the work of
three ordinary ones, becoming at will a "Studio," ""Sketching," and "Table" easel.
6-Finally, the whole of the materials required by an artist, i.e. the surfaces for
drawing or painting upon, the brushes, colours, palette, and other materials are
contained within the easel when carried, and there are no loose pieces to get mislaid.