AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BROOCH FOR FASTENING DRESSES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Berkeley William Fase, of Charles Street, Soho
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Jeweller, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BROOCH FOR FASTENING DRESSES."
Sealed the 7th November 1854, and dated the 22nd May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Berkeley William Fase at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1854.
I, BERKELEY WILLIAM FASE, of Charles Street, Soho Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Jeweller, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BROOCH FOR FASTENING DRESSES" to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent the pin of brooches, constructed
upon the plan of those known as Celtic brooches, from projecting beyond the
frame which carries it, and thereby to avoid a great defect in such brooches.
This I effect by giving the frame an oval or contracted instead of a circular
form, and providing a groove for the end of the pin to lie in at that part of
the frame which has the smallest diameter. The pin is loose, as usual, and
capable of sliding on the frame, and when the brooch' is required to be applied
to a garment for securing the same, the pin is slidden round to the largest

page_text: diameter of the frame, which, being greater than the length of the pin, will
allow the point of the pin to drop and take a position for being readily inserted
into the garment.
When so inserted, its point is elevated above the frame, and the frame is
slidden round to bring the notch before mentioned under the point of the pin,
and thereby to secure the brooch to the garment.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Berkeley William Fase in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BERKELEY
WILLIAM FASE, of Charles Street, Soho Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Jeweller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, 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 Berkeley William Fase, Her special license that I, the said Berkeley
William Fase, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Berkeley William Fase, my exccutors, 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 "AN
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BROOCH FOR FASTENING DRESSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Berkeley William Fase, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the 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 Berkeley William Fase, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
-
L
1.

page_text: beyond the frame which carries it. This projection of the pin beyond the
frame has been long considered a great defect in such brooches, inasmuch as
it is constantly liable to catch into the lace or other trimmings of a lady's
dress and tear or disarrange them. An incidental advantage in my improved
construction of Celtic brooch is, that greater strength may be obtained without
increasing the weight of metal, and a greater variety of ornamental configu-
ration is admissible than in the ordinary construction.
I effect the first-named improvement by giving the frame an oval instead of
a circular form;. or I otherwise contract the inner diameter of the frame in
the direction in which the pin of the brooch lies when in position, and I form
in the frame a groove or rest to receive the end of the pin when the brooch is
in use.
The pin hangs loosely as usual in the frame, and is capable of sliding
thereon; and when the brooch is required to be applied to a garment for
securing the same, the pin is slidden round to the largest diameter of the
frame, which, being greater than the length of the pin, will allow the point of
the pin to drop and take a position for being readily inserted into the garment.
When so inserted, its point is elevated above the frame, and the frame is slidden
round to bring the notch or rest before mentioned under the point of the pin,
and thereby to secure the brooch to the garment.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn three varieties of my improved
construction of brooch, to illustrate the adaptability of my Invention to various
ornamental designs. Fig. 1 shews in plan view the simplest form of my
improved brooch. It consists of an oval frame a, a, with a pin b attached to
the head c, which is carried by and is capable of sliding freely on the frame a.
Corresponding in form to this head c, as seen in plan view, and in a line with
it when the pin is in its secured position, is a guard d, which covers a recess
or groove cut in the frame, and shewn in the cross section, Fig. 2.
recess or groove is intended to receive the point of the pin 6 when the brooch
is in use.
This
In order to apply this brooch to a garment, the pin is slidden into the dotted
position of Fig. 1, and its point is then free to drop below the frame. The
pin is then inserted into the folds of the garment, after which its point is again
raised above the frame, and the frame is slidden round, until the groove or
recess below the guard d is brought in a line with the pin. The point of the
pin then falls therein, and the fastening of the brooch is effected.
It will be understood, that by this Invention the necessity for splitting the
frame to permit of the point of the pin passing down to the under side of the
brooch is avoided, and far greater strength (a given weight of metal being

page_text: used) may be obtained by my improved construction of brooch than by the
common mode of constructing Celtic brooches.
Fig. 3 is a modification of the brooch shewn at Fig. 1, the ornamental form
being changed, but the principle of construction retained. In this Figure, e is
the rest or point of support for the point of the pin b, carried by the serpent-
like folds of the frame a, a. When the brooch is to be attached to a garment,
the pin is slidden to the dotted position, and the width of the frame at this part
being greater than the length of the pin, the depression of the point may be
effected, for the purpose of inserting it in the garment to be fastened; and
when so inserted, it is brought up above the face of the brooch, and the frame
a, a, is slidden round until the point of the pin lies upon the rest e. Fig. 4
represents a circular frame a, the inner diameter of which is contracted at f
by increasing the breadth of the frame at that part. A recess is formed in
the broad part f for the reception of the end of the pin b, which pin, as in the
former Figures, is loose upon its frame.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "an improved con-
struction of brooch," and shewn the mode of adapting the same to various
styles of ornamentation, I wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent I claim, the improved construction of Celtic brooch,
as above described, or any mere modification thereof, whereby the advantages
above set forth are attained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Berkeley William Fase, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
BERKELEY W. FASE. (L.S.)