IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BACKS AND HANDLES FOR HAND MIRRORS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Joseph Hicks, of Hatton Garden, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
Scaled the 24th July 1868, and dated the 27th January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Joseph Hicks
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th January 1868.
I, JAMES JOSEPH HICKS, of Hatton Garden, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BACKS AND HANDLES FOR HAND
MIRRORS," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture
of backs and handles for hand mirrors, and relates to the application of
a material as a substitute for the materials hitherto employed for the
manufacture and ornamentation of such articles. For this purpose I
employ china or earthenware moulded to the shape required and provided
with a recess into which the mirror is fixed by cement or otherwise, as

page_text: will be well understood. Such recess I form by preference hollow or
deeper in the middle than at the edges so as to prevent the mirror
touching at any part except the edges, and if desired the sides of the
recess may be undercut so as thereby to assist in retaining the mirror in
place. The china or earthenware employed may be of any desired colour
and ornamented to suit the taste of the purchaser. In some cases I
apply a veneer of china or earthenware on to a suitable foundation
forming the body of the back and handle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Joseph Hicks in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
JOSEPHI HICKS, of Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight,
in the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Joseph Hicks, Her
special licence that I, the said James Joseph Hicks, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Joseph Hicks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BACKS AND HANDLES
FOR HAND MIRRORS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Joseph Hicks, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same, to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Joseph Hicks, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture
of backs and handles for hand mirrors, and relates to the application of
a material as a substitute for the materials hitherto employed for the
manufacture and ornamentation of such articles. For this purpose I
employ china or earthenware moulded to the shape required and provided
with a recess into which the mirror is fixed by cement or otherwise, as
will be well understood. Such recess I form by preference hollow or
deeper in the middle than at the edges so as to prevent the mirror
touching at any part except the edges, and if desired the sides of the
recess may be undercut so as thereby to assist in retaining the mirror
in place. The china or carthenware employed may be of any desired
color and ornamented to suit the taste of the purchaser. In some cases
I apply a veneering of china or carthenware on to a suitable foundation
forming the body of the back and handle.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying
Drawings, more fully to describe the same.

page_text: mirror from injury; and in order to afford extra security for this purpose
I prefer to form the recess c hollow or deeper in the middle than at the
edges, as shewn in the Drawing.
In constructing the backs and handles of hand mirrors I prefer to
employ china or earthenware of a color closely to imitate that of ivory,
for which it forms a cheap substitute, and such ivory body may be
ornamented in any desired manner, or if desired the china or earthenware
employed may be of any desired color and ornamented to suit the taste
of the purchaser, such carthenware or china being of the same color
throughout, or having an outer surface of the color desired applied to
an earthenware or china base of any suitable description; or a vencering
of china or carthenware may be fixed by cement, screws, or other
suitable means to a foundation formed of wood or other suitable
material.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best
means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into effect, I would
have it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein shewn and described; but what I do claim is, the manufacture
of backs and handles for hand mirrors of earthenware or china,
substantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof I, the said James Joseph Hicks, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JAMES J. HICKS. (L.S.)