CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ORNA- MENTING OF PAPIER MACHÉ, AND IN MANUFACTURING AND ORNAMENTING JAPANNED GOODS GENERALLY
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
FARMER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date -at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of June, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tho said
Thomas Farmer, Her especial licence; full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Thomas Farmer, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Farmer, my exors, adñiors, 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 expressed, 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 THE ORNA-
MENTING OF PAPIER MACHÉ, AND IN MANUFACTURING AND ORNAMENTING JAPANNED
GOODS GENERALLY;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that
I, the said Thomas Farmer, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Farmer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say) :—
My Invention consists of,-
Firstly, a method of ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods by
transferring to the said goods patterns printed on paper, and a method of
making the copper plates from which the said transfers äro printed.
Secondly, a method of ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods by
electrical, magnetic, or galvanic agency.
Thirdly, a method of ornamenting papier maché and jajannod goods by
attaching thereto ornaments formed by the said agency, the said ornaments
being formed apart from the articles to be ornamented, and afterwards
attached to the said articles in the manner herein-after described.
Fourthly, a method or methods of preventing the detaching of the japan
from such japanned goods as are made of iron.
Fifthly, a method of embossing or producing designs in relief on papier
maché goods.
My method of ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods by trans-
ferring to the said goods patterns printed on paper is as follows:-I obtain
impressions on paper from copper or other plates by the ordinary process of
what is called copper-plate printing, excepting that I use in place of common
printing ink an oily composition insoluble in water. The paper I employ
is of thin texture, as commonly used for transferring. That part of the
article to be ornamented is first covered with gold or silver leaf, the said
gold or silver leaf being attached to the said article by a solution of isinglass,
as in the ordinary process of ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods.
I place the printed side of a transfer on the said gilded or silvered surface,
and by rubbing the back of the said transfer the design or pattern printed
thereon is transferred to the said gilded or silvered surface; by placing the
article on which the design is transferred in a warm situation for a few hours,
the oily matter of the composition with which the design was printed dries,
and the said design or pattern cannot be removed from the said article by
gentle friction only. When the composition used for printing has become
hard and dry by the warmth aforesaid, the superfluous gold or silver is
removed by gentle friction, aided by a slight wetting of the surface, the
pattern or design being protected by the composition that is left on the
article to be ornamented; that is to say, there is left on the said article the
pattern or design in gold or silver leaf, covered with the composition used for

page_text: printing. This composition is then removed by alcohol, or oil of turpentine,
or any other suitable solvent, and the design may then be finished by any
of the methods or processes practised by japanners. It will be observed
from the foregoing description that my Invention differs from the method
known to and practised by japanners in the following respect (that is to say) :-
In the ordinary method of ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods,
the gold or silver leaf is attached to the article to be ornamented by a solution
of isinglass, and parts of the said gold or silver leaf are defended by being
covered with varnish or asphaltum, laid on with a brush, and by friction the
whole of the gold or silver, excepting those parts defended by the varnish or
asphaltum, is removed, and the ornament thus traced on the gold or silver leaf
with the said varnish or asphaltum is left, whereas in my method the parts of the
gold or silver leaf to be retained on the article to be ornamented are defended
by the oily composition first printed on paper and transferred from the said
paper to the gold or silver leaf. The method by which I make copper plates
from which such transfers as I use may be printed is as follows:-I procure
a clean copper plate, and trace the design thereon with varnish, and connect
the said plate with the zinc or positive metal of a voltaic battery by means
of a metallic band or wire. I also attach a plate of copper by means of a
metallic band or wire to the copper or negative metal of the said voltaic
battery, taking care to establish a perfectly continuous metallic communication
between the said plates and the said metals of the battery with which the
said plates are respectively connected. I then immerse the said plates of
copper in a solution of copper, taking care to place them parallel to and
at a short distance from each other. The solution I commonly employ is
made by dissolving sulphate of copper in water till the latter is saturated,
and adding thereto a quantity of sulphuric acid, not exceeding one thirtieth
part in volume of the said solution. Immediately the copper plates are
immersed in the solution of sulphate of copper, the passage of the electric
current from the voltaic battery decomposes the said sulphate of copper, and
deposits metallic copper on that plate connected with the zinc or positive
metal of the battery, that is to say, on the plate on which the design has
been traced in varnish, the deposit of copper taking place only on those
parts of the prepared plate on which there is no varnish, so that the plate
increases in thickness only on those parts, while the parts of the plate covered
with varnish retaining their original thickness, the design appears sunken
or depressed in the said plate. When the thickness of the said plate is
sufficiently increased to allow of impressions being printed from the ornaments
thus left sunk or depressed in the said plate, the said plate is detached

page_text: from the electrical apparatus, is washed in water, and dried. The varnish is
removed from the depressions by alcohol or oil of turpentine, and the said
plate may then be used for printing impressions on paper.
My method of ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods by electrical
agency is as follows:-The ornament to be produced is traced with gold size,
and gold or silver leaf or bronze or any other conductor of electricity is laid
on the said tracing. The gold leaf or other electric conductor attaches itself
to the size, and by a gentle friction the superfluous gold, &c. may be removed.
The ornament to be produced is thus traced in gold or other metallic leaf
or bronze, as in the ordinary manner of ornamenting papier maché and
japanned goods, and upon this tracing I deposit a stratum or coating of
copper, by the electrical, magnetic, or galvanic processes now in use for
depositing coats of metal on conducting surfaces, immersing the surface to
be ornamented when the process before described is used in a solution of
copper, and placing the copper plate as nearly parallel to the surface to be
ornamented as the form of the said surface will admit. The plate of copper and
the surface to be ornamented are placed of course in the solution so as not to
touch each other. Immediately the surface of the article to be ornamented
and the before-mentioned plate of copper are immersed in the solution of
sulphate of copper, the passage of the electric current from the voltaic battery
decomposes the said sulphate of copper, and deposits the metal on the gold
leaf or other conductor of electricity. This deposit of copper on the gold leaf
is allowed to continue until the metal has accumulated to a thickness of about
one sixtieth of an inch, when the article to be ornamented is removed from
the solution of copper, and detached from the voltaic battery, and is afterwards
washed in water and dried. The surface of the article is then varnished all
over with one or two coats of japanners' varnish, and dried in a japanners'
stove. When sufficiently hard the surface of the japan is rubbed or ground
down with pumice stone, or any other suitable substance, until the surface
of the copper is exposed, when a second stratum of copper is deposited
upon the first, so as to increase its thickness. The deposit of the second
stratum of copper is effected in the manner herein-before described, that is to
say, by electrical agency, and it attaches itself to and forms one with the
first. When the deposit of copper has acquired a thickness of about one
thirtieth of an inch, more or less, it is removed from the solution of copper,
and detached from the voltaic battery, and is afterwards washed in water
and dried. It is then varnished with one or two coatings of japanners' varnish,
and when the varnish is sufficiently hardened its surface is rubbed or ground
down with pumice stone until the copper is exposed. The ornament thus

page_text: formed in copper, and embedded or inlaid in varnish, may be silvered or
gilded or finished by engraving in any way best suited to the designs.
The object of depositing the copper at two operations is to prevent the
lateral spreading of the metal deposited. If the required thickness of copper
be deposited on the gold leaf at one operation the deposit spreads over the edge.
of the gold leaf, and the sharp outline of the ornament is thereby destroyed;
but when the deposit is varnished over from time to time, and the varnish
ground down until the surface of the deposited metal is exposed, the varnish
by which the edge of the ornament is defended prevents the lateral spread
of the metal afterwards deposited thereon; where a thicker deposit of copper
than that herein-before described is required, it is necessary to apply varnish
several times during the deposition of the metal.
My method of ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods, by attaching
thereto ornaments formed by the agency of electricity, the said ornaments
being formed apart from the articles to be ornamented, and afterwards attached
to the said articles, is as follows: --I take a surface of metal or wood, or any
other convenient material, and varnish it over, if of metal, with japanners' var-
nish, so as to make it a non-conductor of electricity. I then trace on the said
varnished surface the ornament or ornaments to be produced, the said tracing
being made with gold size. I then apply gold or silver leaf to the said
tracing, or tracings, so as to produce in gold or silver leaf the form or forms
of the ornament or ornaments to be produced on the said varnished surface.
If two or more ornaments are thus traced on the said varnished surface, I
establish a perfectly continuous metallic communication between them all,
by means of strips of gold or silver leaf passing from one to the other, the
said strips of gold or silver leaf being attached by size to the said varnished
surface. On the ornament thus traced in gold or silver leaf I deposit
metallic copper by electricity from the solution of one of its. salts, as herein-
before explained with reference to the last-described part of my Invention.
When the deposit of copper has acquired sufficient thickness, I detach the
plate on which the deposit has been formed from the electrical apparatus,
and strip the deposited copper ornaments from the said plate on which they
are deposited. If two or more ornaments have been deposited on one
plate, and, consequently, in one piece, I separate them from each other by
5 cutting away the narrow strips by which they are connected. The ornaments
thus formed are then attached to the articles which they are intended to
ornament by japan varnish, and several coats of the varnish are laid over
the said ornaments and the surface of the articles to be ornamented. The
ornaments are thus completely embedded in the varnish with which the

page_text: article is covered. When the said varnish is dry and hard its surface
is rubbed or ground down with pumice stone, or any suitable substance, until
the surface of the metallic ornaments is exposed. These ornaments may
afterwards be finished by silvering, gilding, or in any other convenient
manner.
I wish it to be understood with reference to the two last parts of my
Invention that I do not limit myself to the use of sulphate of copper, from
which to reduce metallic copper, as other salts of copper may be used for that
purpose; neither do I limit myself to the use of gold or silver leaf for the
purpose of forming the tracings on which metallic copper is to be reduced, as
other substances which conduct electricity may be used for that purpose;
neither do I limit myself to the use of copper deposited by electrical agency
for ornamenting papier maché and japanned goods, as gold, silver, zinc, and
other metals may be reduced from the solutions by electrical agency for a
similar purpose; neither do I limit myself to the electrical agency, as galvanic
and magnetic agency for producing the metallic deposit may be equally well
employed in the various manners now known for that purpose.
The method or methods by which I prevent the detaching of the japan
from such japanned goods as are made of iron are as follows:-Before
applying the japan to the surface of the said iron goods I cover the surface
of the said iron with a film or stratum of zinc by means of electricity. Tho
surface of the said iron is first rendered perfectly clean by immersion in dilute
sulphuric acid, and is then connected with an electrical apparatus similar to
that herein-before described for the deposit of copper, excepting that in place
of the solution of sulphate of copper I use a saturated solution of sulphate of
zinc in water, and instead of a plate of copper to be placed in the solution
near the article receiving the deposit, I substitute a plate of zinc.
zine thus deposited on the iron prevents the corrosion of the said iron when by
use or accident the japan is in any part detached and the metal exposed to the
air, which causes oxydation, and the further detaching of the japan.
The film of
My method of embossing or producing designs in relief on papier maché
goods is as follows:-I first model in wax, plaster of Paris, or any other
convenient material, the design which I intend to produce in papier maché.
I obtain a cast or impression in copper from the said model by electrical,
galvanic, or magnetic agency. The various methods by which such cast or
impression may be produced being well known and commonly practised, and
constituting no part of my Invention, I deem a description of the method
to be pursued unnecessary. I cover the interior of the said copper mould
with several coatings of japan varnish, drying each coating in a japanning

page_text: stove before the application of the succeeding coating. After a sufficient
thickness of japan has been accumulated in the copper mould I introduce
layers of paper, the first layer being attached to the varnish, and the succeeding
layers being attached to each other by paste, as in the ordinary manufacture
of papier maché goods. Instead of sheets of paper I sometimes use the pulp
of which paper is made. When sufficient strength has been obtained by the
application of paper I remove the copper mould, and finish the surface of
the paper in any convenient manner. The removal of the copper mould
may be effected either by solution in an acid, or by electrical, galvanic, or
magnetic agency; I prefer the latter methods. In order to remove the
copper mould by electrical agency, I connect it by means of a wire or band
of metal to the copper or negative metal of a voltaic battery, and similarly
connect a copper plate to the zinc or positive metal of the said battery, and
by immersing the said mould and plate in a solution of sulphate of copper
the passage of the electric current of the battery causes the solution of the
copper of which the mould is made, and the deposit of the copper on the said
copper plate.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise method or methods of carrying my said
Invention into effect herein-before described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention, and that whether
electrical, magnetic, or galvanic agency be employed for the purpose.
I would wish it further to be understood that I claim as my Invention,
Firstly, the ornamenting of papier maché and japanned goods by trans-
ferring to the said articles devices or designs printed on paper in manner
aforesaid, as also such devices or designs printed from plates produced by
electrical, magnetic, or galvanic agency.
Secondly, the ornamenting of papier maché and japanned goods by
metallic devices or designs, the said devices or designs being formed by
electrical, magnetic, or galvanic agency, whether the said devices or designs
be formed on the said articles, or be formed apart from the said articles and
afterwards attached thereto.
Thirdly, the method herein-before described of preventing the detaching of
the japan or varnish from such japanned goods as are made of iron, that is
to say, by interposing a film or stratum of zinc between the iron of which the
said articles are made and the coating of japan. And,
Fourthly, the method of embossing or producing designs in relief on papier
maché goods hercin-before describer, (that is to say,) by laying coatings of

page_text: varnish and paper or pulp in the interior of a mould, and afterwards removing
the said mould from the ornament produced by galvanic, magnetic, or
electrical agency.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Farmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.