IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING AND COLORING GLASS, EARTHENWARE, PORCELAIN, AND METALS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ROBERT AYERS, of John Street, Berkeley Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Architect, 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 Twenty-third day of July, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Robert Ayers, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Charles Robert Ayers, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Robert Ayers, my exors, admors,
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, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ORNAMENTING AND COLORING GLASS, EARTHENWARE, PORCELAIN, AND METALS,"
communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Charles Robert Ayers,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of the 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 largo
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Robert Ayers, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
I apply the color used in the state of powder, which is applied through
screens of perforated metal or other material, or through lace or other
reticulate or open fabrics; or the design is first printed on the surface of the
glass, china, earthenware, porcelain or metal by an impression made with a
suitable block or surface with any proper adhesive matter, and then dusting
over the powder of the color desired, so that it adheres only to so much of the
surface as has been printed over. The surfaces thus colored or ornamented
are then fixed, as is usual with china, earthenware, and porcelain, when fixing
colors as heretofore applied.
In carrying out the Invention, I find the use of the various descriptions of lace,
whether plain or ornamented, offer cheap means of obtaining various beautiful
grounds or patterns for the general surface, whether of glass, china, earthen-
ware, porcelain, or metal, and such is the case with other open woven fabrics,
and in using them I first apply any suitable adhesive matter over the surface
to be colored or ornamented. I generally use the essence of lavender, which
I lay on evenly with a brush; the piece of lace or other reticulate fabric or
perforated screen is then laid over the surface to be colored, and then by any
convenient means I dust over powder of the color which is desired. The means
I prefer of dusting the colors on to the surfaces is to cause the fine powder of
a color to be agitated in a confined space or box, and then introduce the
surface with the screen thereon, when the color will subside evenly on the
uncovered parts of the surface; the lace or fabric or screen used is then
removed, and the color will only be found adhering to those parts of the
surface which were not covered by solid parts of the lace or fabrics, or other
screens used. In some cases it is desirable that the ground, so produced by
lace or other open fabrics, should not cover the whole surface to be colored,
then I stop or cover such parts with a close surface. Thus, supposing a sheet
of glass to be the surface about to be acted on, according to the Invention, and
that it was desired to have a considerable portion of the surface with a ground
pattern produced by lace or other reticulate or open fabric, and that there was
required other parts of the same general surface, which should be left without
the ground pattern; and further, that such parts so left should be according to
a design or pattern; in such cases, having applied the adhesive matter, I
cover the surface to be colored or ornamented with the open fabric or lace,
and then by a metal or other screen cover over such parts of the ground

page_text: surface as are desired to be left without the ground pattern. I then dust over
the powder of the desired color, and having removed the screen or screens and
the fabric, I fire the sheet of glass, as is well understood, and such is the case
with china, earthenware, porcelain, or metal, taking care that in firing metal
not to heat it up to a red heat, as so bigh a temperature with metal is not
necessary, and might injure the surface of the metal. When using screens I
cut out in sheets of metal or other material the desired designs, in a similar
manner to those used in stencilling, and place these screens over the sur
face to be colored or ornamented, having first applied adhesive material over
the surface, and then dust the powder of the desired color over the open
parts of the pattern of the screen, which, adhering to the adhesive matter
applied, allows the screens to be removed and the surface fired, and in this
manner may surfaces of glass, china, earthenware, porcelain, and metals be
colored or ornamented in pattern, depending on the lace or other fabric used,
and on the screen or screens used; and when the surface to be colored or
ornamented are concave or convex, then I use perforated screens of paper or
other equally flexible material, and also of lace or open fabrics, which will bend
and apply themselves to the figure of the surface and adhere to the adhesive
matter applied thereon; and I do not remove such reticulate fabrics or screens
before firing the surface, but let them remain adhering till the color applied in
powder has been fixed by heat, which heat will destroy the paper or fabric so
used. By thus using lace and other open fabrics and perforated screens, and
also by combining their use in conjunction with firing, after the colors have
been applied, great varieties of beautiful colored or ornamented surfaces may
be produced on glass, china, earthenware, porcelain, and metals. When the
design is to be printed, I prepare a block of wood or other suitable material
with the design in relief, to which I apply any suitable adhesive matter; I
prefer to use turpentine varnish, and I impress such matter on to the surface
to be colored and dust over the powder of the desired color, and then fire the
glass, china, earthenware, or metal, to fix the colors, as is well understood,
the colors used in all cases being the same as are usually employed in coloring
glass and china.
I would remark, that I am aware that it is not new to apply the powder of
some colors through screens on to metal; portraits on metal, obtained by the
effects of light, on prepared metal surfaces having been before colored by such
means; and I mention this circumstance in order to say that I do not claim
he application of colors in the state of powder generally to the surfaces of
glass, china, earthenware, porcelain, and metal, but only when applied in
he manner and subsequently fixed by heat, as herein described.

page_text: And I would have it understood that what I claim as the Invention, secured
under the present Letters Patent, is,-
First, the mode of coloring or ornamenting glass, china, earthenware,
porcelain, and metals, by applying color in the state of powder through per-
forated screens, or through lace or other open fabric when combined with the
fixing of such colors by heat.
And, secondly, I claim the mode of coloring or ornamenting glass, china,
earthenware, porcelain, and metal, by causing the surface to be impressed with
the desired pattern by a wood or other block, with adhesive matter applied
thereto, and then dusting over the desired color in a state of powder, when
such process is combined with the subsequent process of fixing the colors
by heat.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Robert Ayres, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
T
and night hundred and forty-three