IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TEXTURE OF BOBBIN LACE
Year: 1815

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
SILVESTER, of Derby, in the County of Derby, Engineer, do send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of June, in the fifty-fifth year of His
reign, did give and grant unto me, the said Charles Silvester, my exors,
admors, and assigns, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Charles Silvester, my exors, adñors, and assigns,
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 new-invented "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TEXTURE OF BOBBIN
LACE;" in which Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said Charles Silvester, under my hand and seal, to cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within two calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I,, the said
Charles Silvester, do hereby declare that my said Improvements in the
Texture of Bobbin Lace are described and ascertained in the manner
following:-
I make all the sides of each of the hexagonal meshes which compose the
lace of equal strength and thickness, and of similar appearance. To effect

page_text: this, all the six sides of each mesh are composed of a cord or twist of two
threads turned round each other. An inspection of Figure 2 of the Drawing
hereunto annexed will render this more clear than any verbal description.
Figure 1 represents the common bobbin lace commonly called the
Buckinghamshire or Northamptonshire pillow lace, which is not herein intro-
duced as any part of my Invention, but for the purpose of explaining my
improvements. It will be perceived in Figure 1 that two sides of each mesh,
videlicet, the top and bottom, consists of two threads simply crossing without
being twisted round each other; each mesh of this common lace is therefore
composed of four sides of twisted threads and two sides of threads simply
crossed, which sides being weaker than the others, the meshes are liable to
alteration in their figure when the lace is washed. They do not present the
same appearance to the eye, and are also liable to be torn with more facility
than my improved lace, of which all the sides of the meshes are of the same
texture, videlicet, that of a cord composed of two threads twisted round each
other. My Invention produces various improvements in the texture of bobbin
lace first, its texture is more regular to the eye, because all the sides of the
meshes are of a similar appearance; second, its texture is stronger, the
meshes not being more liable to break in one direction than the other; thirdly,
the texture is not so liable to alter its appearance by distortion of the meshes
when washed, because any change produced by the washing will affect all the.
sides of the meshes equally.
Before describing the method of making my improved lace, it will be
requisite to explain that the threads which compose a piece of lace are
distinguishable into two sets by the direction in which they proceed through
the piece. The first represented in the Drawings by the red I call longitu-
dinal threads, and the blue I call diagonal threads. It will be seen that the.
red threads proceed in a longitudinal but waving direction, and being entwined
with the diagonal (blue) threads form the sides of each hexagonal mesh,
whilst the twisting of these diagonal threads with each other constitutes the
remaining two sides of the hexagon. When the diagonal threads arrive at
the edge of the piece they turn round the extreme longitudinal threads, and
thus making the selvedge, return to the opposite edge, making an angle with
their former direction. The same may be said of the common lace, except
that the diagonals merely cross each other instead of being twisted together.
My improved lace is made upon a pillow or cushion by means of bobbins
(Fig. 8), similar to those used for making the common bobbin lace, except
that they are rather shorter. I begin first by winding the threads upon the
bobbins. These threads may be of cotton, silk, linen, or any other substance,

page_text: sufficiently fine and proper for making other kinds of lace, and their number
according to the width of the lace intended to be made. I then attach the
threads in pairs to pins stuck in a cushion a little beyond the top thereof, the
bobbins being allowed to hang freely round the same. Figure A represents
the threads upon a magnified scale when first applied to the cushion, the
bobbins being supposed to be cut off; all this preparation is the same as for
making common lace. I now begin by passing the bobbins over each other,
so as to make three half twists with the threads 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6,
7 and 8, 9 and 10, and 11 and 12; this brings them into the situation
shewn in Figure B. I now pass the thread 8 under 5 and return it over it
again, doing the same with 7 and 9; this produces three half twists of each
of the blue diagonal threads with each other, as represented in Figure C, in
which a half mesh is completed. I next twist, as directed in Figure A,
1 with 2, 5 with 4, 6 with 8, 9 with 8, 10 with 7, and 12 with 11, by
which they assume the form figured D. The upper inclined side of a new set
of meshes being formed, and the lower inclined sides of the former being
completed, I now pass 1 under 5, and return it over again, doing the same
also to 3 with 9 and 7 with 11. This produces the situation as represented in
Figure E. In the next instance I twist, as before directed, 5 with 2, 4 with 1,
9 with 6, 8 with 3, 10 with 11, and 12 with 7, which will give the form
represented in Figure F. I next pass 1 under 9 and return it over again,
doing the same with 3 and 11, by which I produce the position represented
in Figure G, and so on alternately, as in Figures A, C, and E, and in
Figures B, D, F. Note.-No difficulty will be found in passing the bobbin
of the diagonal threads under and over again in order to twist them together,
for although this appears to require one of the bobbins to be passed or brought
up through the mesh, the mesh is not perfectly formed at the time when
this is to be done, there being a considerable length of thread between the
working point and the bobbins, which allows sufficient room for the bobbin to
pass, and the threads are afterwards drawn up to close the mesh. At every
point in the margin of the lace where the diagonal threads return, as repre-
sented by A and E in Figures D, E, F, and G, a pin is inserted into the
cushion through a parchment similar to that employed in the common process,
in order to keep the selvedge perfect. The other meshes will readily keep
their form by the increased firmness of the sides gained by twisting the
diagonal threads together. This is not the case in making the common bobbin
lace, which requires a pin to be inserted in every mesh; still, if thought neces-
sary, pins may be inserted in every mesh, the same as the common lace, the
parchment being pricked accordingly. The part where the lace is formed

page_text: should be kept as near the top of the cushion as possible; hence when a
certain number of meshes have been formed, the pins in the margin and where
the threads are attached must be withdrawn, and the working point shifted to
the part where the working first began, which is equally necessary in making
the common bobbin lace.
In witness whereof. I. the said Charles Silvester. have hereunto set
should be kept as near the top of the cushion as possible; hence when a
certain number of meshes have been formed, the pins in the margin and where
the threads are attached must be withdrawn, and the working point shifted to
the part where the working first began, which is equally necessary in making
the common bobbin lace.
In witness whereof. I. the said Charles Silvester. have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifteen.
the part where the working first began, which is equally necessary in making
the common bobbin lace.
In witness whereof. I. the said Charles Silvester. have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifteen.
CHARLES (L.S.) SILVESTER.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, in the