CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN POTTERY AND MOSAIC WORK
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
BOOTE, of Burslem, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer's Clerk, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifth day of October, in the seventh year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard
Boote, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Richard Boote, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Boote, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter 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 POTTERY AND MOSAIC WORK;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said Richard Boote, 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 the nature of the said improvements, and in what
manner the same are to be performed, are fully set forth and ascertained in and
by the following Specification thereof, that is to say:-
My said Invention consists of several improved methods of impressing
designs on pottery, and producing the peculiar combinations known by the name
of mosaic work.
First, in order to produce coloured designs on grounds of different colours, as,
for example, black on white, or white on black, the designs are first made from
a mould, in the same manner that is usually followed in what is commonly
called figuring. These designs, or rather impressions of designs, are then laid
on the moulds from which the piece of ware is intended to be made; that which
is to form the ground color is then put on, which forms closely round the
design and covers the same inside, the design remaining as originally put in,
both leaving the mould quite clear and distinct outside; the same process is
equally applicable to the manufacture of tiles, bricks, quarries, pannels, and
slabs of various shapes, as also to various other analagous purposes.
Second, another method consists in cutting the design in paper, parchment,
or some other such like pliable substance, which is laid in the moulds; the
halves are then fastened together and the color which is to form the ground is
poured in, after which the paper or parchment is removed and another colour
is poured in to fill up the place from which the paper or parchment has been
removed, forming the device and inner lining. It is now allowed to assume
the required thickness, when the remaining liquid is withdrawn; after standing
a short time it leaves the mould, bringing out all colours distinct on the
surface.
Third, to produce raised figures on a piece of ware of a different colour to
that of the ground colour, the figures are carved or otherwise produced in low
relief on the inside of such plaster of Paris moulds as are ordinarily used in
hollow ware pressing, and the hollow parts filled in with a composition of
which the raised figures are intended to consist, before the halves of the
mould are fastened together; when the halves of the mould, with the hollow
parts so filled up, are fastened together, the slop, which is to form the ground,
is then poured in and is allowed to stand till the composition adhering to the
mould is of the thickness intended to be given to the body of the ware, on
which the remaining fluid stuff is withdrawn in the usual way. Should the
ground be an expensive color the slop is only allowed to remain in as long as
is nece sary to give a very thin coating to the mould and then drawn off, after
which some other slop of a cheaper quality is poured in to form the substratum
or inner lining of the piece of ware.

page_text: Fourth, to produce designs of a mosaic, or other like character, I fix the
design upon the inside of the moulds, before the halves are fastened together,
in composition of the required varieties of colour; the halves of the moulds are
then fastened together, and slop, of a colour suited for the groundwork, as
black or blue, is poured in, and as soon as the clay has adhered to the mould
to the thickness required, the remaining liquor is withdrawn.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as of my
Invention, are the several processes aforesaid as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Boote, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-four.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Nineteenth day of March, in
the year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Richard Boote came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-four.