IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ORNAMENTAL POTTERY AND ARTICLES MADE FROM CLAY AND OTHER LIKE PLASTIC MATERIALS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Latham Boote and Richard Boote, both of
Burslem, in the County of Stafford, Potters, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ORNAMENTAL POTTERY AND ARTICLES
MADE FROM CLAY AND OTHER LIKE PLASTIC MATERIALS."
Sealed the 1st December 1857, and dated the 4th June 1857..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Latham Boote
and Richard Boote at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,, with
their Petition, on the 4th June 1857.
We, THOMAS LATHAM BOOTE and RICHARD BOOTE, both of Burslem, in the
County of Stafford, Potters, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ORNAMENTAL POTTERY, AND
ARTICLES MADE FROM CLAY AND OTHER LIKE PLASTIC MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
The Invention consists in manufacturing ornamental pottery, and articles
made from clay and other like plastic materials of different colours, as
follows: In the manufacture of bricks, flooring, and other tiles, slabs, and
such like articles, as well as pottery and china wares, we fix in the mould,
from which the article is to be made, a thin piece of metal or other suitable.
substance previously fashioned or moulded to form the outline or boundary of
the design required. The upper edge of such metal or other substance is
made to project from the surface of the mould as much as is thought necessary

page_text: to insert the design. When the mould is properly prepared, we fill in the
coloured clay or clays which are to form the design between the projecting
parts in the mould; we then take the clay which is to form the body and
the ground colour and place it in the mould with the design previously filled
in, which, whilst it is undergoing the usual pressure to make the article itself,
is forced closely round the outsides of the projecting parts, and the clays thus
coming in close contact with each other at the upper surface of the design so
unite from the pressure as to draw out the whole complete with the design
embedded in the surface of the article when taken from the mould.
The ground colour may be first put in, if more convenient. The articles thus
decorated are allowed to get a little hard, when they are subjected to a second
pressure, which closes the small lines that are left by the metal uprights, and
joins the design and ground more closely together. A plain mould is only
necessary for this last operation.
In ornamenting bricks, tiles, and other articles with surfaces elaborately
. ornamented, that part which is to be the groundwork of the article inanu-
factured is made to rise by springs or other means above the level of the
mould, as high as is thought necessary to insert the ornament. The design
is thus formed of the sunk or hollow parts, which are filled in with one or
more coloured clays.
The clay which is to form the ground is put on and the whole subjected to
the usual pressure, which gradually forces it down into the various parts of
the mould, and at the same time deposites the design in the surface of the
ground colour and body of the article, the same depth as the body of the
mould was raised; the whole then presents one smooth surface when taken
from the mould. The pattern may be raised and the ground part filled in if
preferred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Latham Boote and Richard Boote in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 4th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
LATHAM BOOTE and RICHARD BOOTE, of Burslem, in the County of Stafford,
Potters, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Thomas Latham Boote and Richard Boote, Her special licence
that we, the said Thomas Latham Boote and Richard Boote, executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Latham
Boote and Richard Boote, our executors, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ORNAMENTAL POTTERY, AND ARTICLES
MADE PROM CLAY AND OTHER LIKE PLASTIC MATERIALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Latham Boote and Richard
Boote, or one of us, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Lathain Boote and Richard
Boote, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The Invention consists in manufacturing ornamental pottery, and articles
made from clay and other like plastic materials of different colors, as
follows: In the manufacture of bricks, flooring, and other tiles, slabs, and
such like articles, as well as pottery and china wares, we fix or insert in the
mould, from which the article is to be made, a thin piece of metal or other
suitable substance previously fashioned or moulded to form the outline or
boundary of the design required, and consequently to enclose a space corre-
sponding to that design. The upper edge of this piece of metal or other
substance is made to project from the surface of the mould a distance corre-
sponding to the depth to which it is thought necessary to insert the design.
When the mould is thus prepared, we fill in the colored clay or clays which
are to form the design within the projecting piece of metal or other substance;
we then take the clay which is to form the body and the ground color and
place it in the mould, covering with it the design in colored clay or clays
previously filled in. The whole is then subjected to the usual pressure
requisite to make the article itself, whereby the clay which is to form the body
is forced closely round the outside of the projecting piece of metal or other

page_text: 3
substance, and also in contact with the back surface of the design, in colored
clay or clays, with which it becomes firmly united; we then draw out the
ornamental article from the mould.
The ground color may be first put in, if more convenient. The articles thus
made and ornamented are allowed to get a little hard, when they may be
subjected to a second pressure, to close the small spaces left by the withdrawal
of the piece of metal or other substance, and to join the various clays more
closely together. A plain mould is only necessary for this last operation.
In forming moulds to be employed in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and
other articles with surfaces elaborately ornamented, that part of the mould
which is to correspond to the groundwork of the article to be manufactured
is made to rise by springs or other means above the level of the mould to a
distance equal to the depth which it is thought necessary to give to the
ornament. Suitable colored clay or clays is or are placed into the sunk or
hollow parts of moulds thus formed, and the clay which is to form the body
.or ground of the article is put in, covering the interior of the mould. The
whole is then subjected to the usual pressure, which gradually forces the clay
last put in down into the various parts of the mould, and as the springs yield
to the pressure, the body or ground clay is forced closely upon and around the
colored clay or clays, which are thus imbedded in the ground or body of the
article to the same depth as that to which the parts of the mould were
raised; the article is then withdrawn from the mould and presents one smooth
surface. Or, instead of the arrangement just described, the parts of the
mould corresponding to the ornaments may be raised and the ground part
filled in, if preferred.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim the
manufacture of ornamental pottery, and articles made from clay and other
like plastic materials, in the manner. and by the methods herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Latham Boote and Richard
Boote, have hereunto set our hands and scals, this Third day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
DYKOIRD
Trac DOO