AN IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS WHEREBY IMPRESSIONS OR PATTERNS IN ONE OR MORE COLOURS OR METALLIC PREPARATIONS ARE PRODUCED AND TRANSFERRED TO SURFACES OF METAL, WOOD, CLOTH, PAPER, PAPIER MACHIE, BONE, SLATE, MARBLE, AND OTHER SUITABLE SUBSTANCES, PREPARED OR OTHERWISE, NOT BEING USED OR KNOWN AS EARTHENWARE, PORCELAIN, CHINA, GLASS, OR OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
WILLIAM WAINWRIGHT POTTS, of Burslem, in the County of Stafford, China
and Earthenware Manufacturer, WILLIAM MACHIN, of Burslem aforesaid,
China and Earthenware Manufacturer, and WILLIAM BOURNE, of Burslem
aforesaid, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Second day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, and in the seventh
year of His said Majesty's reign, give and grant unto us, our exors, admors,
and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that we, the said William Wainwright Potts, William Machin, and William
Bourne, our exors, admors, and assigns, should and lawfully might, during
the term of fourteen years therein mentioned, make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention
of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS WHEREBY IMPRESSIONS OR PATTERNS IN ONE
OR MORE COLOURS OR METALLIC PREPARATIONS ARE PRODUCED AND TRANSFERRED TO
SURFACES OF METAL, WOOD, CLOTH, PAPER, PAPIER MACHIE, BONE, SLATE, MARBLE,
AND OTHER SUITABLE SUBSTANCES, PREPARED OR OTHERWISE, NOT BEING USED OR
KNOWN AS EARTHENWARE, PORCELAIN, CHINA, GLASS, OR OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that if we, the said
William Wainwright Potts, William Machin, and William Bourne, should
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and

page_text: in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, and cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months then next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent, then that the said Letters
Patent and all liberties and advantages thereby granted should utterly cease,
determine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
William Wainwright Potts, William Machin, and William Bourne, do hereby
declare that the nature of our said Invention is described and ascertained in
the manner herein-after expressed and appearing.
As the mode of ornamenting surfaces of metal, wood, and other materials
by transferring to them patterns or designs previously printed on paper or
other suitable substances, as generally known and practised, differs essentially
from the method practised by us, and in which our Invention consists, we
shall concisely state the nature of the mode in common use before proceeding
to describe our own process, with the view of rendering our description of the
latter more distinct and intelligible. According to the method in practice, the
surface to be ornamented is first covered with a coat of varnish or other solution
of adhesive substance, not soluble in water. When the varnish is sufficiently
dry, the print or engraving from which the design is intended to be transferred
(having been first made damp by moistening with water the back of the print)
is placed on the varnished surface with the face towards the surface, and is
pressed to it with a smooth rubber, at first slowly, so that the face of the print
may be brought into equal and even contact with the varnished surface, and
any vesicles of air between them excluded; which being effected, the rubber is
passed quickly to and fro with a slight pressure all over the back of the print.
The designs used for this purpose are printed with the ink used for printing
engravings or lithographs, or some similar substance, which will easily unite
with the adhesive varnish and not be washed away by water; and the quick
rubbing on the print, as last mentioned, causes it to be a little heated by the
friction which assists the union of the oil of the print or engraving with the
varnish of the surface to be ornamented. When the adhesion of the print to
the varnished surface has thus been effected, a wet sponge is applied to the
paper of the print until it is thoroughly soaked; after which the paper is with
great care and nicety rubbed off from the varnish by the finger of the operator
whilst the ink or colouring matter of the print or engraving remains united to
the varnished surface, the order of the figures or parts of the design or patterns
being of course the reverse of that which existed on the face of the print or

page_text: engraving. This general description will sufficiently explain the common mode
of transferring.
We now proceed to the description of our improved method or process. A
design or pattern being engraved on a copper or other suitable metal plate in
the ordinary manner, the plate is placed on a stove having a flat top or slab,
so as to form a table of sufficient size for the reception of the plate. The
stove being fired, the plate is retained in the flat top until it is sufficiently heated
to render the colouring matter to be applied to it sufficiently liquid for working.
The colouring matter is mixed with transferring oil (which, as used by us, is
similar to that used by manufacturers of china and earthenware in preparing
colours for ornamenting those substances, and the preparation of which is
herein-after described), and when mixed is rubbed over the engraved plate
until the engraved pattern or design is sufficiently filled, and the plate is then
scraped and cleared of the superfluous colouring matter in the usual manner.
A sheet of paper adapted in size to the engraving, and previously sized with a
ley of soft soap or other suitable sizing matter (but we use and prefer a soap
ley prepared as herein-after described) is then placed (whilst yet moist from
the sizing) evenly over the plate, and the whole passed between the rollers of
an ordinary engraver's press in the usual way. For this purpose we generally
use tissue paper, but where the pattern is large or contains a great body of
colour a stronger paper may be properly used. On coming from the press,
the paper bearing the impression is pulled off the plate, and where the design or
pattern is intended to be in one colour only it is now ready to be transferred, for
which purpose the sheet is to be placed with its printed face downwards on
the surface of the wood or other substance intended to be ornamented, and
with which it must be brought into even and uniform contact by gently
rubbing on the back of the paper with the hand or a soft rubber, and so left
until the colour may have become sufficiently imbibed by or attached to the
surface to which it is applied. The paper, being then soaked with a soft
sponge, is removed without difficulty, leaving the coloured design completely
transferred to the surface; the previous operation of sizing which the paper has
undergone disposing it to part freely with the colouring matter, and to separate
easily from the surface to which it is applied. Where several colours aro
intended to be used in the same design or pattern, such part only of the
design or pattern as is intended to be in one of those colours is engraved on
the plate; and it is most advantageous and convenient that the finer parts of
the design or pattern, such as the outlines, shading, and the like, should be
obtained from the engraved plate, leaving the body of the colouring to be filled
in in the manner we are about to describe. The sheet with the first portion of

page_text: the design or pattern impressed thereon, being pulled from the engraved plate,
is placed on a smooth block or slab of stone, covered with a fine blanket or
woollen cloth, in order that the remainder of the pattern may be supplied in
the other colour or colours intended to be used. This is done by means of
blocks similar to those used by calico printers in what is termed block printing,
on which the pattern or portion of pattern to be printed is raised, and the ink
or colouring material applied. to the raised surfaces of the block, which are so
arranged as exactly to correspond with the part of the pattern previously
obtained from the engraving, so as to form together the complete pattern or
design required; and it is evident that by this method patterns in any required
number of colours may be produced, each portion of the pattern which is
required to be produced in a distinct colour being impressed from a separate
block, and all the blocks having the raised parts from which the impression is
to be taken arranged in due relation to each other, and to the part of the
pattern obtained from the engraved plate, so that the separate impressions
when made on the paper may unite together to form the complete pattern or
design. Where, however, the engraved part of the pattern consists of outlines
or shadings, this having been first impressed on the paper, either in black or
dark tint of any colour, the body colour may be applied by the block or blocks
over or upon such shading or outline, as when the pattern is transferred from
the paper to the surface intended to be ornamented; the outline or shading
which was first impressed on the paper will be on the exterior or upper face of
the pattern when transferred. The blocks may be of wood, metal, or other
suitable material, or they may be constructed by casting from proper moulds in
type metal or other alloy, or in composition of the kind used by letter-press
printers in the construction of composition rollers. Besides blocks, metal
types or similar implements for giving a coloured impression from a raised
surface (all which are herein-after included under the general term of blocks)
may be used for filling up the pattern, and many designs or patterns may be
conveniently obtained from blocks or other raised surfaces alone, without
recourse to engraved plates. In this case, as the sized paper will not undergo
the drying effect of the heated plate, it should, after sizing, be allowed to become
nearly dry before being printed on by the blocks. We, however, consider that
the most ornamental and effective patterns for the purpose of this our Invention
may be obtained from the combination of an engraved plate and of blocks, in
the manner described by us. The first impression on the sized paper may also
be obtained by the process of lithographing instead of by printing from an
engraved plate; and in this case also the sized paper should be used in a drier
state than when applied to a heated copper plate, it should be merely damp.

page_text: For the purpose of applying the colouring matter to the surfaces of the blocks,
we employ composition rollers applied by the hand, similar to those in ordinary
use among letter-press printers, the colouring matter being applied to the
blocks in a cold state. With regard to the colours to be used, the selection.
of these forms no part of our Invention, but, they will in all cases be such as
are used for the like ornamental purposes by competent persons employed in
ornamenting with patterns or designs the respective substances to which our
said Invention applies. The colour must, however, be in all cases mixed or
prepared with the transferring oil herein mentioned. When metalline powders
are intended to be used, the metal having been first reduced to a pulverulent
form by the common process of solution in an acid, and by subsequent pre-
cipitation, it is to be mixed with the transferring oil and employed in the
printing of the required pattern in manner before described; and after being
transferred to the surface to be ornamented, must, when perfectly dry, be
burnished until bright, and then varnished in the ordinary manner.
In the foregoing description we have explained the method of performing
our Invention by a flat engraved plate, and by blocks applied by hand; but the
same may be more advantageously effected, that is, to a larger extent and with
less expenditure of labour, by employment of machines similar in construction
to those used by calico printers, and which are, first, a cylinder machine,
whereby a pattern or part of a pattern is obtained from an engraved copper
roller continually revolving, and which as it revolves is furnished with a con-
stant supply of the colouring matter employed, and is cleared of its superfluous
colour by mechanical means instead of by hand. Secondly, a flat press,
wherein a pattern or part of a pattern is obtained from a flat plate, the
colouring matter being also furnished, and the superfluous colouring cleared
away, by mechanical means. And, thirdly, a surface-printing machine, in
which a pattern, or a part or several successive parts of a pattern are obtained
from rollers called surface rollers, in which the part from which the impression
is to be received is raised in like manner, as in the blocks worked by hand,
and which are furnished by colouring rollers adapted for the purpose. It is,
however, unnecessary for us to enter into any description of these machines,
inasmuch as they form no part of our Invention, and have, with convenient
adaptations for the producing of patterns for the purpose of transferring, beeń
heretofore described and made public, the cylinder machine and flat press,
with their adaptations, being fully described in the Specification of an Inven-
tion of "An improved method or process of obtaining impressions from
engravings in various colours, and applying the same to earthenware, porce-
Jain, china, glass, and other similar substances;" for which Invention Letters

page_text: Patent, bearing date on or about the Seventeenth day of September, One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, were granted by His present Majesty
King William the Fourth to John Potts, Richard Oliver, and the said
William Wainwright Potts, and the Specification of which Invention was
duly inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery. And the said surface-
printing machine, with its adaptations and the manner of using the same,
being fully described in the Specification of "An improved method or process
of producing patterns in one or more colours to be transferred to earthenware,
porcelain, china, glass, and other similar substances;" for which Invention
Letters Patent, bearing date on or about the Third day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, were granted by His said Majesty
King William the Fourth to the said William Wainwright Potts, and the
Specification of the same Invention was duly inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery. Patterns inay also be obtained for the purpose of our
said process by the employment of any of the printing presses in common use
among letter-press printers. The surfaces intended to be ornamented may
either require to be prepared or not; for instance, if wood be the substance to
be ornamented, the surface may either be kept clean or it may be covered
with a varnish; if iron or other metal, the surface may be clean, or japanned,
or varnished; and so in respect to other substances to which our improved
method or process is intended to apply, the ordinary modes of preparation
being used where thought expedient in the discretion of the operator.
The soap, ley, or size used by us for sizing the tissue paper, and also the
transferring oil used for mixing the colour, are of the kind in common use among
manufacturers of earthenware, and may be obtained in the potteries ready for
use; but it may be useful here to state the methods of preparing these articles
which we adopt and prefer, although they form no part of our Invention.
The ley or size is prepared by boiling soft soap in water, with a little of the
common soda of commerce in the proportions of one pound of soap and one
These must be boiled until the soap and
ounce of soda to a gallon of water.
soda are well are well dissolved in the water. The size may be applied to the
paper by a brush or sponge, or by the paper being passed between rollers
covered with blanket, the lower one revolving in a trough filled with the size.
A convenient apparatus for this purpose is described in the said Specification
of the Invention of John Potts, Richard Oliver, and William Wainwright
Potts, before referred to. The transferring oil is prepared by boiling together
linseed oil and rape oil in the proportion of one quart of linseed oil to half a
pint of rape oil (imperial measure), adding to them whilst boiling one ounce of
white lead, the like quantity of common white or brown resin, and the like

page_text: quantity of common tar. These ingredients are to be boiled over a clear red
fire without flame. When the boiling has continued about half an hour the
liquid must be fired with a lighted paper, and allowed to burn, extinguishing
the flame when the boiling becomes too violent, and repeating the firing until
the liquid becomes ropy: its being sufficiently reduced or inspissated may be
ascertained by dropping a little on a plate and trying its tenacity by the finger;
if it ropes or extends five or six inches from the finger when lifted up, it may
be considered as sufficiently boiled. It should then be removed from the firo
and allowed to cool until the boiling has ceased, when about a quarter of a
pint of spirits of volatile oil of tar should be mixed with it. The older the oils
are employed the better, as less boiling and firing are then necessary for the
reduction of the mixed oil.
It will be obvious that our improved method or process may be applied to a
great variety of ornamental purposes, such as either the ornamenting of boxes,
trays, and other similar articles, the production of ornamental papers for
hanging rooms, or the decoration of the walls of rooms by transferring
patterns or designs thereto or thereon, or the production of pictures by trans-
ferring patterns or designs to or on prepared canvas; all which we mention
merely, as examples illustrative of the applicability of our Invention to
ornamental purposes.
Having thus described our said improved method or process, we declare
that our Invention consists in a novel application of a well-known process of
art to purposes for which such process has not heretofore been employed,
namely, the transferring of impressions from engraved surfaces, or printing or
lithographic blocks, to the surfaces of metal, wood, and other substances herein
specified, by similar manipulations, preparations, and materials, to those which
are and have been in use in effecting such transfers of designs to the surfaces
of earthenware, porcelain, china, and other similar substances.
We therefore claim under the privileges of the Letters Patent granted unto
us as aforesaid, for the term of years therein mentioned, the sole and exclusive
right to effect, by the several means herein described, the transfer of ornamental
designs, patterns, or pictures from engraved surfaces, or printing or litho-
graphic blocks, to the surfaces, clean or varnished or prepared as herein-
before mentioned, of metal, wood, cloth, paper machié, bone, slate, marble, and
other suitable substances not being used or known as earthenware, porcelain,
china, glass, or other similar substances. And we consider the essential and
indispensable parts of such process to be the taking off or printing the impres-
sion for the transfer upon paper, sized or impregnated with such a size or lay
as herein-before mentioned, the colouring matter being mixed or incorporated

page_text: with the prepared oils as a vehicle, as the same are described to be in use
in the process of ornamenting earthenware by transferred designs; and further,
the prompt application of such impressions before the vehicle has become dry
to the surfaces to be ornamented. Such process, with the various details herein
set forth, as it is to be applied to the ornamenting of the substances enumerated
above, we claim, by the aid of whatever implements, tools, or machines, the
same process may be effected.
And we declare that we do not claim as of our Invention any of the imple-
ments or machines herein described or adverted to, as subservient to the art;
but we claim the method of effecting this our process of transfer by the
employment and use of such implements or machines, or of any such other
implements or machines as may appear needful or convenient to be adopted
for effecting our said process of transfer.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Wainwright Potts, William
Machin, and William Bourne, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.
HARDING, Extra.
W WAINWRIGHT (L.S.) POTTS.
WILL (L.S.) MACHIIN.
W (L.S.) BOURNE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of December,
in the year of our Lord 1836, the aforesaid William Wainwright Potts,
William Machin, and William Bourne, came before our said Lord the King
in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and
every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
T