AN IMPROVE- MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BRASS KNOBS FOR DOORS, DRAWERS, CUPBOARDS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the. Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BRASS KNOBS FOR DOORS, DRAWERS,
CUPBOARDS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th January 1860.
I, AURELIUS BRUCE MITCHELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR, IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BRASS KNOBS FOR DOORS,
DRAWERS, CUPBOARDS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in ornamenting brass knobs for doors, drawers,
cupboards, and other like purposes, by inserting in the faces of the said knobs
central ornaments made of glass, china, earthenware, or other vitreous or
semi-vitreous material.
In carrying my Invention into effect I prefer to make the bodies of the
knobs to be ornamented from sheet brass, and to make in the blank a recess
or depression at that part of the blank which constitutes the centre of the

page_text: face in the finished knob. The ornament is placed in the said recess, the
edges of the said recess being closed upon the ornament so as to hold it firmly.
I do not however, confine myself to any particular method of connecting the
ornament to the face of the knob. The ornaments which I prefer to employ
are rosettes of glass having foil behind them, ornaments of china, plain or
painted, or rosettes or ornaments of different colored enamels. When the
brass knobs to be ornamented are made by casting, the recess in which the
ornament is fixed is made by the casting process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AURELIUS
BRUCE MITCHELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, Her special licence that I, the
said Aureluis Bruce Mitchell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING
BRASS KNOBS FOR DOORS, DRAWERS, CUPBOARDS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES,"
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell,
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.
upon
'
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in ornamenting brass knobs for doors, drawers,
cupboards, and other like purposes, by inserting and fixing in the faces of the
said knobs central ornaments, that is to say, ornaments situated on or around
the centre of the faces of the knobs, the said ornaments being made of glass,
china, earthenware, or other vitreous or semi-vitreous material. The glass,
china, or other vitreous or semi-vitreous substance which I employ may be
colorless, or colored, painted, gilded, or ornamented in any desired manner.
:
In carrying my Invention into effect I prefer to make the bodies of the
knobs to be ornamented from sheet brass, and to make in the blank a recess
or depression at that part of the blank which. constitutes the centre of the
face in the finished knob. The ornament is placed in the said recess, and
by means of a press or burnishing tool, or otherwise, the said recess is closed
upon the ornament so as to hold it firmly in its place. When the knobs to
be ornamented according to my Invention are made by casting, the recess in
which the ornament is fixed is made by the casting process, the ornament
being fixed therein by cement or otherwise. I do not, however, confine myself
to any particular method of connecting the ornament to the face of the knob.
The ornaments which I prefer to employ are rosettes of glass, having, when
colorless, foil behind them, which said foil may be colored or colorless,
ornaments of china, plain or painted, or colorless or colored enamel.
. I have represented in the accompanying Drawing two door knobs ornamented
according to my Invention. Figure 1 represents a side elevation of one of
the said knobs; Figure 2 represents a section of the same; and Figure 3
represents a front elevation of the same.
a is the brass body of the knob, having in its face the central glass or china
ornament b, the said ornament being fixed in the recess c by the edges of the
said recess being closed upon it, or in any other convenient way. In addition
to a central ornament 6, I sometimes apply to the face of the knob small
ornaments made of glass or china, marked d, d, the said ornaments being
disposed concentrically about the ornament 6, and fixed in any convenient
manner.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent, in side elevation, section, and front elevation
respectively, another knob ornamented acccording to my Invention. The knob
Figures 4, 5, and 6 differs from that represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, only
in having the ornament placed in the centre of the annular depression f in
the face of the knob. The central ornaments bande may be made to lie
flush or nearly flush with the face of the knobs, or be made more or less to

page_text: project from the said knobs according to the particular shape of the ornament
used. The knob, Figures 4, 5, and 6, may also be ornamented with small
ornaments similar to those marked d, d, in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Although I sometimes employ small ornaments marked d, d, in conjunction
with a central ornament, yet I generally ornament the knobs by the use of a
central ornament only.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention the improvement or improvements in ornamenting brass knobs for
doors, drawers, cupboards, and other like purposes, herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, ornamenting the said
knobs by inserting and fixing in their faces central ornaments, or ornaments
situated on or around the centre of the faces of the knobs, the said ornaments
being made of glass, china, earthenware, or other vitreous or semi-vitreous
material, and either colorless or colored.
In witness whereof, I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
AURELIUS BRUCE MITCHELL. (L.S.)