IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PARIAN, PORCELAIN, CHINA, AND EARTHENWARE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Rickhuss, of the City of Worcester, China
Potter, and Charles Toft, of the Parish of Saint John, Bedwardine, in the
County of Worcester, Modeller, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Rickhuss and Charles
Toft at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 25th October 1854.
We, JOHN RICкHUSS and CHARLES TOFT, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PARIAN,
PORCELAIN, CHINA, AND EARTHENWARE," to be as follows:-
Instead of baking the parian, &c., and then colouring it (by painting or
printing), we propose to prepare a mould with raised patterns or ridges, so
that when the parian, &c. before baking is pressed into or on it, it indents the
pattern in the soft material. The colour is then rubbed into the indentations,
and the article is then turned in the lathe down, to a smooth surface, and
then presents the pattern as though it had been printed. The article is then

page_text: burned as usual and comes out complete, thereby saving the expence of
painting or printing. The articles are produced more speedily and economically,
and are in many respects better than when manufactured by the ordinary
processes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Rickhuss and Charles Toft in the Great Seal Patent
Office on tlie 21st April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, Jonn
RICKHUSS, of the City of Worcester, China Potter, and CHARLES TOFT, of the
Parish of Saint John, Bedwardine, in the County of Worcester, Modeler,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Rickhuss and Charles Toft, Her special licence that we, the said
John Rickhuss and Charles Toft, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Rickhuss and Charles Toft, our
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 PARIAN,
PORCELAIN, CHINA, AND EARTHENWARE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said John Rickhuss and Charles Toft, by an instrument in writing
under our 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Rickhuss and Charles Toft, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement; but before we proceed to 'describe the particulars of our
Invention, it may be proper to state shortly the mode in which articles in

page_text: parian, porcelain, china, and carthenware have been heretofore and are usually.
manufactured (that is to say):-
'
The articles are made from moist parian clay, china clay, or common
earthenware clay, either by being thrown on a wheel (used for the purpose) into
a rough shape or form of the article required, then pressed in a mould on the
same wheel, and afterwards turned on a lathe to the shape or form required; or
by casting in moulds from clay in a fluid or semi-fluid state, by such clay being
pressed or passed into moulds, the wheel not being used for this purpose. After
being so treated, the articles produced by the process described are burned or
baked in a kiln once or twice to a state called "biscuit," and after being so
burned they are glazed, and are perfect in a plain'state; but if they be required
to be decorated or ornamented, they are painted, printed, or gilded, and after
each process of glazing, painting, printing, or gilding, they are again burned or
baked in a kiln. Now, the object of our Invention is to make the article, and
decorate or ornament it simultaneously, and this before the baking ог burning
process, and thereby save a large portion of the ordinary expence of decoration
or ornament, as well as the labor and expence of one or more bakings or
burnings. We attain the object of our improvements by indenting or incising
the pattern of the intended ornament or decoration in the moist parian or clay,
and then introducing the colouring matter into such indentations or incisures,
and bringing the whole to a smooth surface, by turning, scraping, shaving, or
rubbing before baking or burning the article.
The mode or manner in or by which our said Invention is carried into
effect is as follows:-We prepare a model of the article required in pipe
or other clay, such model having the pattern of the intended design, decora-
tion, or ornament scooped out or engraved in or on it while the clay is in a
moist state. We then prepare a mould of plaster of Paris, as usually used
in the manufacture of articles in parian, porcelain, china, and earthenware, in
the following manner-We pour plaster of Paris while in a fluid or semi-
fluid state on to or round the model, and leave it to dry; when dry, the mould
will have raised ridges or protuberances, such ridges or protuberances being
of the pattern of the design, decoration, or ornament, as scooped out of or
engraved in or on the model. If the article be of a flat shape, as a dish, plate,
or saucer, the mode of obtaining a mould with such.ridges or protuberances may
be varied as follows (that is to say):-Instead of scooping out of or engraving
the pattern in the model, a pattern of the intended design, decoration, or orna
ment may be prepared and stuck on the model. A cast in, plaster of Paris
from such model. may.then be taken; and if a cast be taken from that cast,

page_text: such second cast will have ridges or protuberances corresponding with the
pattern on the model. After the mould has been prepared in one or other of
the modes herein-before described, we press the parian, porcelain, china, or
earthenware clay, while in a moist state, into or upon such mould, thereby
making indentations in such clay corresponding with the raised edges.or
protuberances on or in the mould, and the pattern, decoration, or ornament
required. We take the colouring matter usually used in painting or printing
on parian, porcelain, china, and earthenware, and mix a quantity, according to
the shade of colour required, with parian, porcelain, china, or earthenware
clay in a fluid or semi-fluid state, called " slip," to make such fluid clay or
slip of the colour required, and we make such coloured fluid clay or slip of the
consistency of thick cream. With such coloured fluid clay or slip we fill up
the indentations made by the ridges or protuberances in or on the moulds, and
after allowing this mixture of colour and slip to dry, we bring the article to a
smooth surface, by turning the same in a lathe, or by either scraping, shaving,
or rubbing the same, as may be found most desirable; we then bake or burn
the article in a kiln in the usual manner. If the article be required to be
glazed, painted, or gilded, then, after such glazing, painting, or gilding, it will
require to be again burned, as though manufactured in the ordinary manner.
Articles thrown and turned (and not cast or made in a mould) may be orna-
mented before being baked or burned, by turning one or more grooves,
indentations, or incisures therein, (in lieu of the indentations made by the
mould,) and filling the same with coloured "slip," as before described, and
turning the whole to a smooth surface on a lathe. The lathe and tools used
in such process are those ordinarily used in the manufacture of articles in
parian, porcelain, china, and earthenware.
Having now described the nature and object of our Invention, and the means
by which we carry it into practical effect, we would desire it to be distinctly
understood that we lay no claim to. the exclusive use of any of the parts, moulds,
substances, fluids, or semi-fluids, whether the latter may be used plain or
coloured, when taken seperately as parts, moulds, substances, fluids, or semi-
fluids, and not in combination, as herein-before described, or for the purposes
of our said Invention; which we declare to be, and we claim as of our Inven-
tion, and the exclusive right, to use moulds with raised ridges or protuberances
for manufacturing articles in parian, porcelain, china, and earthenware, in
the manner and with the articles or substances herein-before described.
Also, we claim the manufacture or treatment of articles in parian, porcelain,
china, and earthenware, by turning grooves, indentations, or incisures therein,

page_text: and filling such grooves, indentations, or incisures with coloured slip, and
turning or otherwise reducing such articles to a smooth surface, in the manner
and by the means herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Rickhuss and Charles Toft, have
hereunto affixed our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
DAVID BOSTOCK,
Albion Street, Shelton,
Staffordshire.
JOHN KICKHUSS. (L.S.)