AN IMPROVED MANNER OF APPLYING PICTURES OR DECORATIONS TO DOOR OR OTHER PANELS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Francis Dallas Harding at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th July 1881.
FRANCIS DALLAS HARDING, of Leigh House, Hampstead Heath, in the County of
Middlesex, late Captain 19th Hussars. "AN IMPROVED MANNER OF APPLYING
PICTURES OR DECORATIONS TO DOOR OR OTHER PANELS."
The object of my Invention is to provide efficient means whereby pictures,
ornamental designs, or the like, upon silk, satin, or other thin material of a similar
nature, may be secured to doors or other parts of dwelling houses or other
structures in such a manner that the said pictures or designs may be readily
and conveniently removed at any time when such removal may be necessary or
desirable.
It is at the present time the custom to decorate the panels of drawing room,
dining room, and other doors with pictures painted upon silk or satin, and it is
usual to glue or cement this material to the wood work of the door, thus it is
either impossible or very difficult to remove the said pictures without injury to the
same; moreover the paint of the door is liable to be disfigured; sometimes the
pictures are painted upon the wood of the door itself, and must be destroyed in
order to be removed therefrom. According to my Invention these defects are
entirely remedied in a very simple and effective manner.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a thin sheet of metal,
preferably zinc, upon which the silk or other material containing the picture or
decoration is stretched, the edges of the material being turned over to the rear of
the metal sheet and secured by any suitable means thereto. The sheet of metal
must have a certain amount of "spring," that is to say, it must be capable of
rebounding or re-assuming its flat shape after being slightly bent for inserting the
same under the beading or moulding of the panel, or removing it therefrom, and this
sheet must be of metal not liable to oxidation as the latter would injure the.
picture. I find that zinc fulfils these conditions. The beading or moulding
surrounding the panel is undercut or rabbetted in order to provide a space within
which the edges of the metal sheet fit, the latter being thus held securely in place
by the beading or moulding. I make one portion of the said beading or moulding
removable, and this part is held in place by providing tongues and grooves, or any
other well known means may be employed.

page_text: When it is desired to insert or remove a picture stretched upon the metal sheet
the removable piece of moulding is detached, the metal is slightly bent or sprung
outwards so as to permit the edges thereof to enter or leave the recesses under the
moulding, and then the said metal sheet may be readily inserted in place or
removed therefrom.
My said Invention provides means whereby the decoration of panelling may be
changed or altered from time to time to suit the tastes or desires of the owners, also
means whereby the pictures or decorations may be readily removed when rooms
are being cleaned or painted.
The said Invention may be advantageously applied to the cabins of ships, and to
any panels required to be decorated in the manner above described.