IMPROVEMENTS IN DECORATING THE SURFACES OF STOVES, GRATES, FENDERS, AND FIRE-IRONS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Corbitt, of Masbro' Works, Rotherham,
in the County of York, Stove, Grate, and Fender Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DECORATING THE SURFACES OF
STOVES, GRATES, FENDERS, AND FIRE-IRONS."
Sealed the 9th February 1869, and dated the 17th August 1868:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Corbitt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th August 1868.
I, WILLIAM CORBITT, of Masbro' Works, Rotherham, in the County
of York, Stove, Grate, and Fender Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DECORATING THE
SURFACES OF STOVES, GRATES, FENDERS, AND FIRE-IRONS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an economical and effective mode of
decorating the surfaces of stoves, grates, fenders, and fire-irons; and
consists essentially in the employment for that purpose of thin plates
of steel or other metal which have previously had ornamental designs
etched thereon: The required pattern or design is produced on each

page_text: separate metallic plate by the transfer or stencilling processes or by hand
drawing, and the parts which are unprotected by the ink or varnish are
etched by and in the well-known manner. The etched parts or back-
ground may, if desired, have a deposit of gold or other precious metal
applied thereon, whilst the raised portion may be polished or burnished
according to taste. These etched plates are to be so shaped as to be
capable of covering all or any portion of the stoves, grates, or other
surfaces to be ornamented, and are secured thereto by the aid of cement,
screws, rivets, or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Corbitt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CORBITT, of Masbro' Works, Rotherham, in the County of York, Stove,
Grate, and Fender Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Corbitt, Her special license
that I, the said William Corbitt, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Corbitt, my executors,
administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DECORATING THE SURFACES OF STOVES, GRATES, FENDERS, AND FIRE-IRONS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Corbitt, my
executors or administrators, 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
performed, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Corbitt, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say: -
My said Invention relates to an economical and effective mode of
decorating the surfaces of stoves, grates, fenders, and fire-irons, and
consists essentially in the employment for that purpose of plates of steel
or other metal having ornamental designs etched thereon. The required
pattern or design is produced on each separate metallic plate by transfer
or stencilling processes or by hand drawing, and the parts which are
unprotected by the ink or varnish are etched by and in the well-known
manner. The etched parts or background may, if desired, have a
deposit of gold or other precious metal applied thereon, whilst the raised
pattern may be polished or burnished according to taste. These etched
plates are to be so shaped as to be capable of covering all or any portion
of the stoves, grates, or other surfaces to be ornamented, and are secured
thereto by the aid of cement, screws, rivets, or otherwise.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings;
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a front elevation of a fire-grate or
stove ornamented according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a full-sized
detail section taken along the line A, B, (Figure 1); Figure 3 is an
elevation of a differently shaped grate or stove also ornamented
according to my Invention; Figure 4 is a full-sized detail cross section
taken along the line A, B, (Figure 3); and Figure 5 is a detail vertical
section taken along the line C, D, and corresponding to Figure 3.
In all these Figures a represents the cast iron composing the grate or
stove, and b, b, are the ornamental plates which are secured to those parts
intended to be ornamented therewith. These plates may consist of thin
cast steel or other metal, which, if requisite, is specially rolled and
shaped or curved to fit the particular surface to which it is to be applied.
Having been thus shaped or curved or rendered perfectly flat (as the
case may be) the plate is then ground and burnished on the outer surface,
and the required pattern or design is drawn or marked thereon, either by

page_text: hand or by stencilling, or otherwise, in the ordinary varnish used by
etchers, and the ground eaten away by acid in the well-known manner.
The plates thus ornamented are fixed in their places by screws, as shewn
at c in the Drawings, or by cement, or otherwise, the etched plates
forming a species of ornamental metallic veneer on the surface to be
ornamented. Bosses or shields of etched steel or other metal plate may be
-screwed or otherwise attached to parts of fenders and to the handles of fire-
irons, to the bosses or sockets of tongs, and to the pans of shovels, whereby
a highly ornamental effect is obtained in a very economical manner.
I am aware that grates and other metallic articles have been ornamented
by having the surface itself of the article engraved or cut by hand with
the engraver's burin, but this is both costly and tedious, and requires
highly skilled labour to carry out.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of
my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be
used or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
ornamenting or decorating the surfaces of stoves, grates, fenders, and
fire-irons by attaching steel or other metal plates thereto having patterns
and designs etched thereon, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Corbitt, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of
February One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.