CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING DAMASK AND OTHER SURFACES ON LEATHER AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
JOHN NEWBERY, of Cripplegate Buildings, in the City of London, Artist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of August, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George John Newbury, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said George John Newbury, my executors, administrators,,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said George John Newbery, my execu-
tors, administrators, 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 mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING
DAMASK AND OTHER SURFACES ON LEATHER AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said George
John Newbury, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in

page_text: Her 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 large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George John Newbery, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following description
thereof (that is to say):
Before I enter into the details of my Invention, it may be necessary to
explain what I mean by damask surfaces, and to define as nearly as I can the
generally accepted meaning of the word damask, as applied to ornamental
surfaces. It would seem then that Damascus woven fabrics were originally
made with the threads of the figure running one way and the threads forming
the groundwork of the fabric running another way, so as to produce a peculiar
effect of light and shade alternately, the dyed colour being the same throughout
the entire texture, and since this introduction, many ornamental effects have been
technically called damask, whenever the mere shades of the same color makes
the contrast between the ornament or design and the ground upon which it
is represented, the original effect of which was called damask, being produced
by twisted threads, the surface of the fabric was of course indented, not smooth,
so that although a pattern of bright and "mat." gold, as applied to the blades
of swords, may be designated a damask pattern, the closer imitation of the true
damask would be where the indentations as well as the shades of color
produced the effect. In accordance, therefore, with the terms made use of
in the title of the above in part recited Letters Patent, of which this is the
Specification, the first surface I shall describe is a damask surface to be
produced on leather and other fibrous substances and fabrics, by a method not
hitherto known or practised for such a purpose.
To accomplish this end, I first obtain a mould or matrix with the pattern
sunk in relief, forming the counterpart of the surface I desire to produce; this
mould may be formed of engraved metal, or wood, or other suitable material,
or by making a cast from the article to be copied in plaster of Paris (that is to
say), prepared gypsum; but the method I prefer where the nature of the work
will allow of it is to spread a coat of dissolved gelatine (as isinglass) over the
model, which has been previously slightly brushed over with a little wax
dissolved in turpentine. After the gélatine has become dry, I strip it off
from the figured damask surface, the thin coating of wax allowing it to
cone away easily, and thus I obtain a gelatine mould of great sharpness and

page_text: perfection of pattern. If I desire the gelatine mould to be made additionally
strong, then before it is dry, or even set, I spread over the whole of the
surface a fine muslin or other thin texture, which becomes imbedded in the
gelatine, and thereby gives greater cohesion and strength to the mould or
matrix. With this mould or matrix, formed principally of gelatine, I next.
proceed by giving the face of the mould so produced a thin coat of copal or
other oil or spirit varnish, this I do with a brush or other convenient
tool. When the varnish is dry, I further coat the face of the mould with oil
paint of any colour I may desire, or a pigment mixed with any other suitable
medium, or resinous gums, japans, or varnishes, and after covering every part
of the paint on the face of the mould in this way by one or more coats of colour
when dry, I give it a coating of adhesive varnish, commonly called "Flocker's
varnish," and while this remains sticky I spread over the whole of the surface
a layer of leather (split skins and skivers, I prefer), or, as may suit my purpose,
woven cotton or other fibrous fabric; this I press down into close contact with
the painted surface, and having made it adhere, I allow it to become perfectly
dry. I would here remark that I do not confine myself to the use of
Flocker's varnish, as many other adhesive matters may answer perhaps equally
well, and for some purposes better; for example, a solution of common glue
may be preferred when pliability is not required, but a solution of caoutchouc
will be preferable when increased pliability is the object. The whole being
dry and consistent, the last part of my process is to dissolve the gelatine which
formed the mould, and remove it. from the surface by washing it clean away
with a sponge and warm water, and this leaves me a substance of paint, a
fac-simile of the woven damask pattern from which I first obtained the mould
of gelatine, which has a raised surface, is now fixed upon the leather or other
fibrous substance; I have said, the mould or matrix may be made of metal,
wood, &c., in case I make use of such substances I proceed rather
differently. Thus, having given a very thin coat of wax to the mould or
matrix, I form a thin solution of gelatine on the surface, and allow it to
dry, when it will have coated the surface of the matrix with so thin a stratum
that hardly any perceptible loss will be discovered in the sharpness of the
pattern after the process of painting and backing is carried out upon this
prepared metal mould. When all is dry, I strip the fabric out of the mould
and wash away the small portion of gelatine which will be found to adhere to
the surface. I have thus far gone into the part process of my Invention in strict
compliance with the form to be observed in describing, according to the terms
of my title, but it will be obvious that there are many other embossed or
indented surfaces which may as easily be produced on fibrous substances by the

page_text: same process as the "damask," which is also an indented surface, and, indeed,
the process is susceptible. of imitating the most prominent basso relievo with a
facility and beauty and-flexibility combined, almost unequalled by any other
known method. I consider this process admirably adapted for imitating the
beautifully corrugated appearance of the grain of morocco leather, and in
transferring the surface in its minutest perfection on the surfaces of cotton
fabrics and other fibrous substances. In effecting this object, I wax the
surface of the morocco grain of the leather slightly, and obtain the gelatine
counterpart or matrix in the way already described, and proceed in all other
respects precisely as I have shewn in producing damask surfaces. If I wish
to produce a pattern on the uneven and corrugated surface of the morocco to
resemble parts dyed with other colors after or before varnishing the matrix, I
paint or print the design of the pattern in its proper colors upon the face of the
matrix or mould, and when dry, I coat over the whole surface with another
color to form the ground, and proceed to finish as before described. If,
instead of the indentations forming an imitation of morocco grain, I desire to
copy any other style of uneven or indented or embossed surface, or basso relievo
ornamental work, and desire to produce the same in party colors or imi-
tations of cameo or raised flowers in their natural tints, I fill in those parts of
the moulds or matrix with such colors. as may suit my purpose, and when dry
coat the whole surface with a contrast color to form the ground, and proceed to
finish as before described. The next part of my Invention is to produce level
flat surfaces, and also embossed and indented surfaces, on various fibrous textures
by a method already in part recited, and in addition to give them in some in-
stances painted and printed-surfaces, so that when such surfaces are backed and
imbedded with fibrous textures, as thin cambric muslin, they shall be suitable for
window blinds and transparent screens, and other purposes. To this end, having
furnished myself with a metallic or other surface, either plain, like plate glass,
or engraved and hollowed out into a pattern, I first slightly wax the surface in
every part; and spread over it, while.in a horizontal position, a layer of gelatine
in solution (as size), then having.strained some fibrous woven texture (as cambric
muslin) on a frame, I allow it to lay imbedded in the solution of gelatine and dry,
and when dry it is to be stripped off; by these means there will be presented a
beautifully smooth surface, suitable. for a blind, without further process, fit to be
painted upon.by an artist in the ordinary way; sometimes, instead of straining
the texture on. a frame, I simply lay it evenly over the surface and dispense
with the frame, which is not always a convenient method.. Instead of producing
a plain transparent even surface on the texture, I sometimes vary the process
by making use of transparent paint mixed with gelatine as a vehicle with

page_text: which I paint or print a design on the even surface, and when dry coat it over
with clear, plain, or strained gelatine afterwards, so as to form the ground
stiffening, and proceed as before to finish. The whole may be stripped off the
polished surface easily by reason of the slight waxing given at the commence-
ment, also by sinking patterns in the matrix by any of the means already
described, and filling such devices with color mixed with gelatine, and after-
wards, when, dry spreading a coating of pure or clear gelatine over the whole
surface, and attaching the fibrous texture. I have devices on the blind or
screen in imitation of cameos in transparencies or opaque, the various depths
of the matrix pattern giving its effects of light and shade by the greater or less
substance of color. By the same means also, that is to say, a flat polished
surface and the process described, I am enabled to stiffen those light and
delicate gauzes, laces, and woven fabrics which would not bear the brush
in the ordinary process of sizing, but by this plan may be made to present
a perfectly glazed surface -not otherwise to be produced, in consequence
of the open nature of the woven texture. By a similar process I stiffen and
produce a very flat surface upon various fibrous substances, such as gauzes
used to stiffen bonnets, by preparing the same in the way described, on
flat surfaces, with thin glue or other convenient vehicle. I also mount paper
drawings, prints, paintings, maps, and oil pictures, by fastening the same, face
downwards, on an even, waxed, metallic, or other surface, and thickening the
same up by other sheets of paper, or by fibrous woven fabrics or leather. Some-
times I find it more convenient to put the strengthening material first on the
polished waxed surface, and afterwards the print, drawing, or painting.
Another part of my Invention of producing surfaces on leather and other
fibrous substances relates to methods of producing embossed surfaces on such
substances as have been already described, and bringing the leather or other
fibrous substance into high or low relief. This part of my Invention I effect
in either of two ways; the first is by the application of hydraulic pressure, the.
other by the effect of vacuum. In proceeding upon the first plan, viz,
hydraulic pressure; I procure a cylinder or case, the diameter of which
is sufficient to receive the mould or matrix I intend shall impart the re-
quired figure to the leather or other substance. On the bottom of the
cylinder, which is formed of a plate of iron made to screw firmly into
the cylinder, and which has small perforations to allow the air to escape, I
place the mould, and upon the mould or within it, as the case may be, I put a
sheet of leather or pelt, or half prepared leather well wetted, either in one
piece, when the subject is only a basso relievo, or joined up in several pieces for
bold relief by india-rubber glue to a shape something approaching the form it

page_text: is ultimately intended to take, and further up in the cylinder I place a strong
sheet of india-rubber, forming a sort of drum head, and covering the entire
area of the circle, and this is secured to the interior of the cylinder by being
cemented by a solution of caoutchouc, so as to line the sides of the cylinder
five or six inches above this drum head. The upper part of the cylinder is
made hemispherical for strength, and at its top a pipe is inserted, which is to
be connected with the interior of the cylinder of one of Bramah's hydraulic
presses; the cylinder containing the mould is now filled with water in the part
above the drum head, and being connected to the hydraulic press by its pipe,
on pumping in the usual way, the sheet of rubber, forming the drum head, will
be depressed and forced down upon the mould, driving before it the leather into
all the various shapes of the pattern, the air escaping through the perforations
of the bottom. To know how the operation proceeds from time to time, if
requisite, the bottom of the case may be removed and the work adjusted and
assisted, and again submitted to the pressure until complete. These surfaces
so formed may afterwards be thickened by other textures forced on them, and the
whole may be tanned, painted, or saturated with colour or oil, or japanned with
resinous matters, so as to be made impervious and capable of bearing aqueous
liquors. By this method of hydraulic pressure, I propose to form basins of
elastic leather, cups and ornaments, jugs, busts, &c., &c. Another process I
employ to obtain ornaments in relief on shapes of leather, as cups, &c., is to
employ a vacuum. To effect this, at the top of a vessel from which the air is
to be extracted I place a strong perforated cover, and over this a mould formed
of some porous substance, as oak wood, which is very open and pervious in the
grain, and I have this cut and engraved into a die or pattern upon a transverse
cutting of the wood; or I sometimes prefer metal dies or patterns with per-
forations in every depth through which the air may be extracted; having placed
this over and upon the upper surface of the close vessel, and secured it well at
the edges by a cement of caoutchouc or other suitable matter, I place upon
the surface of the mould or matrix the leather in a wet state, and rendered
soft and yielding by its having been rolled and beaten, so as to increase in
thickness at the expence of its area, I commence to exhaust the air from the
lower part or interior of the vessel, which communicating with the surface
upper
of the die or matrix bencath the leather, &c., the substance is drawn down into
the hollows of the die or matrix, and which may be further assisted by wetting
and by working it in above with modelling tools; and, if necessary, a thin sheet
of caoutchouc may be put over the fibrous substance, to render it more com-
pletely air-tight and the vacuum more effective. When dry, I remove the
leather, having, if I so desire, filled its hollows with some substance to facilitate

page_text: the drying, or with plaster of Paris, in order to keep it in proper form. This
embossed surface on leather and other fibrous textures, produced by these
means, may afterwards be thickened by other layers or saturated, so as to cause
it to become horny and hard with glue and resins or gums or varnishes,
and rendered water-tight, or tanned to render it durable. Another surface I
produce on fibrous textures is a perforated surface applicable to blinds for
windows and screens, the perforations being produced from pinned and
coppered blocks, resembling those used by silk handkerchief printers and
paper stainers, the fibrous textures I prefer for forming these perforated
surfaces upon are fine sized cambric, leather, and paper. These textures are
to be strained on a frame perfectly tight, the pattern block is to be put under
the sheet of texture with the ornamental pinned face uppermost, and exactly
in that part of the texture intended to be perforated. The surfaces of
the texture and the pattern being brought in contact, a piece of fine glass
paper is covered over a flat cork, and by friction over the block on the
texture, and pressure with the glass paper, the texture will be worn into
holes of the required form of the design. The block is then to be shifted to any
other part of the texture, and the operation repeated until the whole design
is completed; plain parts may be left to be afterwards decorated by painting
or printing, and the effect will be the production of a very novel and beautiful
perforated blind, capable of being used with a spring roller or on a frame.
Another improvement in producing surfaces on fibrous textures is, to burnish
or hand calendar cotton, silk, linen, and other textures (save and except
leather, which has been done before) upon a table or block that has a design
cut upon its surface, similar to a paper stainer's pattern; such process is called
damasking on leather, and is used for table, piano, and other covers. The
woven fabric I use, as cotton, &c., is to be slightly damped and placed on the
face of the print or pattern table, and its outer surface passed all over with the
burnisher, when those parts of the pattern that stand up like the face of a
type will have caused the texture to receive a high polish, which will form
a pleasing contrast with the unburnished groundwork, and I intend to sub-
stitute these cheaper manufactures for the more expensive articles of leather
commonly employed. The same process applied to silks will be found suitable
for parts of ladies' dresses. By a damasking table, or, indeed, any other
pattern block of a similar nature, I also produce on leather and other
fibrous substances and woven textures, figures and effects in gold, and bur-
nished and embossed colors. The pattern block may be of wood or metal,
or any hard substance; and to effect my object, 1 first slightly wax the
surface of the pattern block I intend to use, I then pass over the same

page_text: a roller charged with isinglass or albumen mixed with or without color; if to be
gilt, I dispense with the color, and in that case lay the gold leaf on the pre-
pared surface of the block so as to gild it; when dry, I again pass over the
pattern block with isinglass or other suitable cement, and before that is quite
dry I place the fabric down upon the pattern block, so that every part of the
pattern comes in contact with the fabric. After a time sufficient to allow it
to become partially dry, but not perfectly dry, a hot burnisher or hot roller
about the heat of a gilding tool; and pass it with pressure over the sur-
face in all directions, when, on stripping off the fabric, the gold or color,
as the case may be, will be found to have left the surface of the pattern
block, and have become firmly cemented to the texture. Thus large sur-
faces may be gilt without metal tools, and more perfectly than by any ordi-
nary process; in some cases I hollow out the surface of the pattern block
so as to produce basso relievo figures on the fabric, but in such cases I
must use following blocks or small. burnishers to force the texture into
those hollows. Another improved surface I produce on fibrous a texture is by
passing black crape through boiled oil or other siccative oil, or spirit varnish,
and afterwards pressing it through a padding mill. to remove all superfluous
oil, &c., leaving sufficient to form a coating upon each fibre of the texture to
protect it from the effect of damp or: rain, and causing it to retain its figure
and beauty longer than it would otherwise do. Another method of producing
a surface on a fibrous texture is to produce a printed surface by transferring
the ink from an engraved design or plate to the surface of cotton or other
fibrous texture, by first pouring a melted solution of isinglass over the surface
of the inked plate that holds the design, and then applying, while the isinglass
is soft, a sheet of paper or woven fibrous texture or leather upon the plate, and
when dry stripping it up from the plate, when it will be found to have received
a beautiful impression, and as good, or better, than could be obtained from the
copper-plate press. By this process I obtain impression of any magnitude, as
maps without a join, and without the use of a press. I would here observe,
that a metallic plate is not essential to the operation, the same effect being
produced by any engraved surface, as wood, stone, painted cloth, &c.
Another improved mode of producing surfaces on fibrous substances and
leather will be found in producing printed surfaces from the pores of various
woods and metals, and natural substances, as marbles and crystals. This I do
by rubbing ink into the natural grain and printing it off by the letter-press or
copper-plate presses; by this method either with or without the aid of electro-
type, beautiful impressions of transverse cuttings of woods may be obtained for
the use of the microscope.

page_text: Another improvement on surfaces of fibrous substances I effect by casting
paper pulp into moulds of plaster of Paris or other suitable substance, which
moulds, being sunk to a pattern and hollowed out, so that where the greatest
depths of shadow are required proportionate depths shall be made 'in the
mould, and where the strongest lights are required proportionate shallows.in
the mould shall be left, then by waxing slightly the mould and filling it with
paper pulp and gelatine when dry, on stripping it out of the mould and
holding it up before the light, effects will be produced of figures and ornaments
in transparent shadows resembling the French China' lamp shades, called
lithophrainiques," but capable of being made into larger surfaces; and not
so liable to break or injure, and applicable to window blinds and screens and
a great many other useful
purposes.
2
The next surface I produce on fibrous textures is in imitation of or
reproducing copies from the paintings of the old masters, and by which I
hope to furnish fac-similes of the most valuable works of ancient or modern
artists with a little assistance of competent artists during the manipulations.
My method is to trace parts of the original design on glass, or some perfectly
level metallic or other substances (perhaps a flexible surface will be best),
I then fill up certain parts of the design to the outlines with colored or
stained wax, which is to be semi-transparent, this wax I scrape and model
into as close a resemblance as possible of the folds of the drapery or other
parts of the design to be imitated, and when perfect I make a mould of
gelatine upon this form of wax; when dry, I strip it off the metallic or glass
surface and take the wax model out of the mould, and fill the hollows with
colour of the appearance of the original picture, and allow it to dry, and when
dry transfer it on a canvas or other fibrous substance, and proceed in a similar
way with as many other parts of the painting as are suitable to the purpose,
until it shall require a competent artist to fill up the deficiencies by the skill
of his masterly hand. I consider that by laying one tint over and beside
another in the process of transferring I shall have accomplished much that is
desirable, and, if necessary, I shall obtain my moulds from the wax models or
the real painting by taking casts of the parts by the electrotype process.
Another method I pursue in producing surfaces on leather and other fibrous
substances is to form imitations of marble on such substances; this I do by
sprinkling liquid colours mixed with varnish and soap thinned with spirits,
according to the tints and forms in the marbles which I desire to imitate, on
the surface of a sheet of water, where they are to be formed agreeably to the
taste of the artist. When this has been done, the paper or other substance,
intended to receive the impression, is to be carefully laid down upon the water

page_text: surface, and the paper being absorbed will then receive the pattern of the
marble on its surface. If the fibrous substance intended to receive the impres-
sion is not sufficiently absorbed, and will admit of being slightly varnished, I
do so before I apply it to the marble design on the water surface, when it
will the better receive the impression, and thereby become permanently
attached. When I desire to produce surfaces resembling mosaic and other
inlaid patterns in other colored marbles upon such fibrous substances, I
immerse an outline of tin or other material, after the fashion of paste
cutters, into the water, so that the various parts of the design are kept
separate from the ground pattern, and then, by placing the paper on the
surface, I get the impression of both figure and ground at one impression.
In witness whereof, I, the said George John Newbery, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eighteenth day of
February, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid George John Newbery
came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Eighteenth day of February, in the year above written..