A CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRITANNIA METAL AND PLATED WARES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
FORD STURGES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of August, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Ford Sturges, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Richard Ford Sturges, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Ford Sturges, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times 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 "A CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRITANNIA METAL AND PLATED WARES;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Richard Ford
Sturges, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
Richard Ford Sturges, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
66
My Invention relates to those articles which are or may be made of the alloy
commonly called britannia metal, or of other metals or alloys, coated or
covered with silver, such as tea and coffee services, urns, candlesticks, trays,
waiters, &c. The external surface of articles made of britannia metal or of
plated metal is commonly finished by being subjected to one of the processes
known as ८८
polishing," "buffing," "handing," or "burnishing," the object of
each such processes being the production of a high polish or burnish. My
Invention consists of preparing the entire external surface of all such articles
as are or may be made of britannia metal or plated metal, in such a manner
that they present the appearance commonly called by the names "frosted,"
grassed," "matted," and "dead," instead of the usual polish or burnish, and
do not require finishing by buffing, handing, or burnishing. This appearance
is produced, rendering the surface uneven, either by forming on it minute
lines parallel to each other, or inclined at a small angle, or by small dots or
projections. This preparation of the external surface of britannia metal or
plated wares may be effected in a variety of ways. One of the dies in which
articles made of britannia metal or plated metal are usually stamped may be
sunk or engraved so, as to give the external surface of the article the required
character, or the britannia metal or plated metal may be passed between rollers,
one of which is properly engraved, or the articles may be made to rotate by a
lathe, or other convenient. machinery, and a hand wheel, the periphery of which
is properly engraved, applied to their surfaces while rotating. The mode I
prefer of producing a frosted, matted, grassed, or dead, appearance, is by means
of dies. The surfaces of articles. prepared by either of the modes herein-
before described require no other finishing than washing either with soap and
water, or with sand or whiting and water, or with alkalies or acids. dissolved in
water; and when, by use or otherwise, such, articles have become tarnished, or
discolored, they may be. restored to the original appearance, by washing with
soap and water.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood, that I am aware that
britannia metal and plated wares are or may have been made,. the surfaces of
which are partly polished or burnished, and partly frosted, matted, grassed, or
dead; and I wish, it to be understood. that. I do not claim as my Invention, the
production of surfaces partly matted, grassed, frosted, or dead,, and partly
polished or burnished, or surfaces which require the partial application of the
finishing processes lierein-before mentioned, namely,, buffing, handing, polishing,

page_text: or burnishing; neither do I claim as my Invention either of the modes herein-
before described of producing such frosted, matted, or dead surfaces; but I do
claim as my Invention, the production of a dead, matted, grassed, or frosted
appearance on the entire external surface of britannia metal and plated wares,
by whatever mode such dead, matted, grassed, or frosted appearance is
produced.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Ford Sturges, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.