A NEW AND IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PICTURES ON ENAMELLED IRON
Year: 1884

page_text: DEMOTIVATION,
I, GEORGE, JAMES RHODES of 35, Dudley Road, Wolverhampton in the County
of Stafford, England, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for A NEW AND
IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PICTURES ON ENAMELLED IRON to be as
follows:-
I coat the enamelled plates in non-actinic light, very thinly; but evenly with
bitumen dissolved in turpentine, other or similar volatile spirits-I prefer the
following formula,
Spirits of Turpentine 10 Ounces.
Bitumen added in small quantities until it forms a varnish, which when brushed
over the enamel plate gives a light brown tint, afterwards I expose to sun-light
under suitable transparency, preferably a Photographic one.
The parts not protected by the dark lines of the transparency become insoluble
under the action of light, the soluble portions are then softened by cautiously
applying oil or a little turpentine to the bitumen, when the parts unacted upon
dissolve out and are washed away by water.
After drying, a quantity of finely ground vitrifiable colour is then sieved over
the image, and the plate is slightly warmed to cause the colour to sink into the
bitumen, and becomes fixed thereby.
The plates may then be fired, after carbonizing the bitumen by baking it slowly
on a stove.
If half tones or other colours are desired in the picture, they may be treated in
the same way, only using another transparency in which the middle tints or other
parts are modified by darkening or lightening as is required, re-dusting and
re-firing in exactly the same way.
The ordinary ceramic colours are those which I use, varying them according to
the tint desired.
Dated this nineteenth day of March in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred

page_text: Í GEORGE JAMES RHODES of 35 Dudley Road, Wolverhampton in the County
of Stafford England Enameller do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"A NEW AND IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PICTURES ON ENAMELLED
IRON" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to means of producing, by the aid of photography pictures
or designs on the surface of enamelled iron. For this purpose I in the first place
enamel the surface of the iron whether flat or curved choosing a colour of enamel
which will form a suitable ground for the intended picture or design.
I, then, under a non-actinic light, coat the surface thinly but evenly with à 1
solution of bitumen in turpentine, ether, or other volatile spirit solvent. A good
coating may be made as follows:-bitumen is added in small successivo quantities
to turpentine until a varnish is formed which is brushed over the surface giving it
a light brown tint. When this coating is dry, I apply in close contact with the
coated surface a transparent or semi-transparent picture or design, preferably
photographic, and expose the whole to the light, which has the effect of rendering
the coating more or less insoluble in those parts which are not protected by the
dark parts of the transparency, the protected parts remaining soluble. After
sufficient exposure, depending on the degree of transparency of the picture or
design, and the amount and character of the light, as can be ascertained by
practice, I remove the picture or design and soften and dissolve the soluble
portions of the coating by cautiously applying to them oil or turpentine, and then
I wash away with water the portions thus dissolved, leaving on the surface of the
enamel the portions of the coating which had been rendered insoluble by the
action of the light.
I dry the enamel, and after warming it, I sift over it finely pulverised ceramic
colour, some of which adheres to and is retained by the varnish whilst the rest
which does not adhere can be removed by blowing it off or otherwise. I then
expose the enamel in a stove to a heat sufficient to carbonise the bitumen by
driving off all its volatile ingredients and finally I fire it in the usual way so as to
fuse the colour and fix it as enamel.
The process may be repeated several times on the same surface, so as to produce
on it a design having different colours or tones, in different parts of it, suitable
transparencies or negatives being employed and applied in correct register.
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 :
The process for producing pictures or designs on enamelled iron substantially as
described.
JAL 2012 Jos Desemba 1884
GEORGE JAMES RHODES.