A NEW MANUFACTURE OF SHEETS AND SURFACES FOR DESIGNS AND ORNA- MENWAY
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Hancock, of West Street, Smithfield, in the
City of London, Manufacturer, and Stephen William Silver, of Bishopsgate
Street, in the said City of London, Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"A NEW MANUFACTURE OF SHEETS AND SURFACES FOR DESIGNS AND ORNA-
MENWAY DRD
Sealed the 7th March 1865, and dated the 14th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Hancock and Stephen
William Silver at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 14th December 1864.
We, CHARLES HANCOCK, of West Street, Smithfield, in the City of London,
Manufacturer, and STEPHEN WILLIAM SILVER, of Bishopsgate Street, in the said
City of London, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW MANUFACTURE OF SHEETS AND SURFACES FOR DESIGNS AND
ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
We spread the milk of ballata or the milk of ballata and caoutchouc in com-
bination on moulds of plaster of Paris, wood, metal, porcelain, or other materials
having surfaces plain, figured, sunk or in relief, and when the milk is set or
adheres so as to form a sheet we remove the same from the surfaces.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Hancock and Stephen William Silver in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 14th June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
HANCOCK, of West Street, Smithfield, in the City of London, Manufacturer,
and STEPHEN WILLIAM SILVER, of Bishopsgate Street, in the said City of
London, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Charles Hancock and Stephen William Silver, Her special licence that
we, the said Charles Hancock and Steven William Silver, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Hancock
and Steven William Silver, 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
"A NEW MANUFACTURE OF SHEETS AND SURFACES FOR DESIGNS AND ORNAMENTAL
PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Charles
Hancock and Stephen William Silver, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of either of us, 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.
. NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Charles Hancock and Stephen William
Silver, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
Our Invention consists in making sheets and surfaces for designs and orna-
mental purposes by means of milk of ballata alone or in combination with the
milk of caoutchouc which we find to be particularly suited for moulding and
casting, and can have any colour or tinge imparted to it by the admixture of
pigments, dyes, and colouring matter. Further that considerable strength can

page_text: be given to ornamental and useful objects owing to the peculiar fluidity and
character of the milk of ballata enabling the manufacturer to use it either
alone or in combination with milk of caoutchouc for saturating canvass and
other fabrics.
We take the milk of ballata, or the combination of the milk of ballata, and
caoutchouc, either alone or mixed with pigments, colouring matter, and other
substances, and spread, pour, or brush over in or under a mould, or plain
or figured surface, or over any object, shape, or form, and we remove it when
dry, and sufficiently hard or set.
We employ surfaces, moulds, forms, or shapes, made of plaster of Paris,
wood, metal, porcelain, or other suitable materials. When it is desired to
give the moulds or other articles additional strength we adopt the following
plan (for example), we take a plaster of Paris mould, sunk or in relief, and
over or upon this mould we lay a piece of muslin, net, or other open fabric, or
cotton wadding, and then with a brush or other suitable tool apply the milk so
as to force it on to and through the fabric with sufficient force or pressure to
fix the fabric to the mould or figured surface, or plain surface, as the case may
be, and when the fabric has been made to occupy every part, we add more milk
from time to time until a sufficient coating has been supplied; by this means
all the fine parts of the design are filled in where the fabric does not or cannot
enter. More fabric can be added in the same way if greater substance or
strength is required; when it is thoroughly set and dry we gradually draw off
the fabric from the mould; the design thus obtained and firmly fixed to the
fabric, we back up or fell in (if needed) with any suitable material or com-
pound. The surface of wood, metal, and other substances, we coat with ballata
and caoutchouc milk, and then emboss or press the surfaces into or upon plain
or figured moulds or surfaces, and we coat or cover tapes, cord, or string, with
the compound milk or with each milk alone, and then emboss or otherwise
ornament the same.
The plain and ornamental sheets and surfaces produced by our Invention
are applicable to the covers of books, the surfaces of panels for walls and other
uses, for boxes, articles of furniture, architectural ornament, and other useful
and ornamental purposes.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed we wish it to be understood that we do not claim
the exclusive use of the substances above referred to, except when the same
are employed for the purpose of the said Invention, which we hereby declare
to consist in the manufacture of sheets and surfaces for designs and ornamental

page_text: purposes by means of the milk of ballata, and of the milk of ballata and
caoutchouc as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
CHARLES HANCOCK. (L.S.)