Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 20th June, 1887
Complete Left, 6th Mar., 1888
Complete Accepted, 6th Apr., 1888
I, LAURA ANNE FRY, of Camp Denison, in the County of Hamilton, State of Ohio
and United States of America, Decorative Artist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
The invention relates to the production of Articles of clay-ware having the surface
thereof decorated with novel and artistic grounds or back-grounds, and to the method
of producing said novel grounds; and the object of said invention is to obtain novel
and peculiarly soft and delicate grounds or shadings upon the ware which shall be
wholly free from all traces of sponge, or brush or other mechanical appliances, and
which may be made to gradually fade away or vanish in one or more directions and,
without any perceptible line of demarcation, change and merge from one color into
another with beautiful effect.
It consists in the application to the surface of the ware before it is finally fired,
and either in its soft state, the "bisque " state, or upon the glaze before firing of any
desired coloring matter, either in the form of "slip," or "glaze" or other suitable
liquid preparation, or in the form of a dry powder, by projecting the same upon the
ware in an atomized spray, mist, or cloud, which is produced by means of any of the
usual and well known forms of atomizers, the current through the atomizer, by which
the coloring matter in its liquid or pulverent form is taken up and projected upon the
surface of the ware, being produced by an air blast, a steam blast or by the mouth and
Jungs of the operator.
It relates also to the improved method of coloring the ware, which consists in
heating the ware after it is hard and glazed, and applying the color to the heated
surface in a fine spray by means of an atomizer and thereafter firing or glazing the
article.
It consists also in the new article of manufacture produced as above, viz. : a piece
of clay-ware decorated with a color ground which gradually vanishes at one or more
points until it is wholly lost and merged into a ground of another color without
perceptible line of demarcation between them.
Dated this 20th day of T 1007
HERBERT J. ALLISON,
Agent for the Applicant,

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in the Art of Decorating Clay-ware.
I, LAURA ANNE FRY, of Camp Denison, in the County of Hamilton, State of Ohio
and United States of America, Decorative Artist, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The invention relates to the production of Articles of Clay-Ware having the surface
thereof decorated with novel and artistic grounds or back-grounds, and to the method
of producing said novel grounds; and it consists in the application to the surface of
the ware after the article has received its final shape and before it is finally glazed
or fired, suitable coloring matter in the form of a cloud or spray as hereinafter
described, whereby a novel decorative effect is produced in the form of a peculiarly
soft and delicate ground or shading upon the ware, which shall be wholly free from
all traces of sponge, or brush, or other mechanical appliances, and which may be
made to gradually fade away or vanish in one or more directions, and, without any
perceptible line of demarcation, change and merge from one color into another with
beautiful effect.
It consists furthermore, in heating the ware when hard or glazed upon the surface,
and thereafter applying the coloring matter in manner as hereinafter described to the
hot surface, and finally firing or glazing the decorated article.
To carry my invention into effect, the coloring matter is blown upon the surface
of the ware, either in its soft state, in the "bisque" state, or on the glaze before firing,
in the form of a cloud or an atomized spray, or mist, produced by means of any of
the usual forms of atomizers, which are operated by an air-blast, or a steam-blast or
by the lungs of the operator, and which being well known, need not be herein described.
After the ware has thus been decorated the color is fixed by firing the ware in the
customary manner.
I employ the coloring matter either in a liquid or semi-liquid form, or in the form
of a very dry, almost impalpable powder, as desired. As the coloring matter is blown
from the tube of the atomizer and carried therefrom in a cloud of fine, almost imper-
ceptible particles, it may be readily directed upon the article in such manner as may
be found best adapted to produce the desired effect, the application being freely made
where the color is to be intense, and more delicately made in proportion as the color
effect is to be delicate, or otherwise varied as the taste, skill or ingenuity of the
operator may dictate.
A single color may thus be applied to a color ground, or different colors may be
applied separately, or, by means of separate atomizing jets several colors may be
applied simultaneously.
By this process, delicate clouding, if clouding it may be called, is produced,
entirely free from outline and possessing a peculiarly delicate "vanish," and where

page_text: the colors merge a peculiar softness of blending is secured which may not be other-
wise attained. A variety of beautiful and novel effects may also be obtained which it
is not necessary herein to describe.
The coloring matter and the glazing material for the clay-ware may be mixed
together and applied to the article by my process, or the coloring matter may be
applied as above described, and the glaze thereafter applied by the usual process of
dipping and firing.
Where the clay-ware to be colored or decorated has been once fired and is not
therefore sufficiently absorbent, I heat the same before blowing the color thereon, the
effect of the heat of the article being to cause the liquid coloring matter to quickly dry
without marring the effects which are sought in its application.
1 am aware that coloring matter in a liquid state has heretofore been applied to the
glazed surfaces of china-ware by sprinkling or spattering the same thereon with the
aid of a comb and brush, the comb being passed over the brush dipped in the coloring
matter in such manner as to cause the latter to fly off in fine independent drops or
particles, this process being technically known as "spatter work," and I make no
claim thereto.
My improved process differs from "spatter work" in that instead of being spattered
in small independent drops the color is laid upon the ware in a cloud or sheet of
almost imperceptible spray or mist, producing very different effects and such as have
hitherto been unknown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my Said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The Improvement in the art of decorating articles of clay-ware, which consists
in a novel decorative effect obtained by blowing an atomized spray or cloud of coloring
matter upon the surface thereof and thereafter fixing the same by firing, substantially
in manner as described.
2. The Improvement in the art of decorating clay-ware, which consists in heating
the surface and blowing upon the heated surface an atomized spray or cloud of
coloring matter, and thereafter fixing the same by firing substantially in manner as
described.
3. A piece of clay-ware decorated with a color-ground gradually vanishing at one
or more points until wholly lost and merged into a ground of another color without
perceptible line of demarcation, substantially as herein set forth.
Dated this 6th day of March 1888.
HERBERT J. ALLISON,
Agent for the Applicant.