IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING SURFACES OF CHINA, MAJOLICA, AND EARTHENWARE, AND OTHER VITREOUS OR SEMI-VITREOUS SURFACES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Guest, the younger, and Thomas Guest, both of
Brettell Lane, Kingswinford, in the County of Stafford, Glass Decorators, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING SURFACES OF CHINA,
MAJOLICA, AND EARTHENWARE, AND OTHER VITREOUS OR SEMI-VITREOUS
SURFACES
"
Sealed the 20th November 1877, and dated the 11th September 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Guest and Thomas
Guest at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th September
1877.
EDWARD GUEST, the younger, and THOMAS GUEST, both of Brettell Lane,
Kingswinford, in the County of Stafford, Glass Decorators. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ORNAMENTING SURFACES OF CHINA, MAJOLICA, AND EARTHENWARE, AND OTHER
VITREOUS OR SEMI-VITREOUS SURFACES."
In ornamenting the said surfaces according to our Invention we first etch or bite
in, by means of hydrofluoric acid, the ornament to be produced. This we effect by
first covering the surface with a stopping-out composition not acted upon by the
said acid. A mixture of bees' wax, Japan wax, tallow, and pitch answers very well,
but we do not confine ourselves to the use of this particular composition.
The surface to be ornamented is warmed, and the stopping-out composition is
applied by dipping the article into a bath of the melted composition.
When the surface has cooled and the composition has set or hardened, we mark or
scribe on the prepared surface to be ornamented the required pattern or design, the
said marking or scribing being by preference effected by means of the machines
commonly used for scribing patterns on curved or flat surfaces. The surface is next
treated with hydrofluoric acid, or a mixture of hydrofluoric acid with sulphuric or
nitric acid.
The portions of the surface from which the stopping-out composition has been
removed by the scribing process are acted upon by the said acid, and the pattern or
design is bitten into the glaze or surface.

page_text: When the pattern or design has been bitten to a sufficient depth to enable the
lines to retain colour (applied as herein-after explained), the article is taken from
the acid, and the stopping out composition is removed. We then proceed to fill in
the lines forming the pattern or design with gold paint, or a mixture composed of
about three parts by volume of copal varnish or other hard varnish, and one part
by volume of turpentine, with which sufficient gold bronze has been mixed to make
it into a thin paste; this gold paint is rubbed into the lines bitten by the hydro-
fluoric acid in the vitreous surface, the parts of the surface unacted upon by the
acid not retaining any of the said gold paint. The said gold paint is allowed to
harden by exposure to the atmosphere, or by being heated in a japanner's stove.
The gold paint filling the lines becomes thus permanently fixed therein, and is not
liable to be injured by rubbing or wear.
Instead of filling in the etched lines with gold paint, colours may be employed in
conjunction with the gold paint or without it.
The colours we employ are the pigments ordinarily used as paints mixed by
preference with copal or other hard varnish, and thinned, when necessary, by
turpentine. The said colours are applied in the way herein-before described with
reference to gold paint.
Instead of ordinary pigments mixed with varnish, vitrifiable colours may be used.
In using the said vitrifiable colours we etch the design in the manner herein-before
described, but instead of using gold paint or ordinary colours mixed with varnish
we employ the said vitrifiable colours, and subject the surface to which the said
vitrifiable colours have been applied to heat in enamelling kilns, so as to fuse the
vitrifiable colours in the etched lines.
The vitrifiable colours we employ are those ordinarily employed in enamel
painting, and are mixed with the same vehicles.
Instead of preparing the surface for the action of the acid by means of the
scribing process, the designs to be produced, particularly when they consist of figures
and landscapes, may be transferred from paper on which they have been printed
from steel or copper plates, or from stone.
The method we employ of producing and transferring the said designs to the
vitreous or semi-vitreous surface by the transfer process is essentially the same as
that practised in the ornamenting of surfaces by means of coloured transfers,
excepting that the transfer effected in our process acts as the stopping-out material
to protect portions of the surface from the action of the acid.
The composition which we have found to answer well in practice for printing the
designs to be transferred consists of one part by weight of bees' wax, one part by
weight of pitch, one part by weight of Japan wax, and two parts by weight of
turpentine. These materials are incorporated by being heated together, and are
thinned to the required consistency with black varnish or Brunswick black. We
do not confine ourselves to the use of this composition.
After the surface to which the design has been transferred has been treated with
hydrofluoric acid, and the unprotected parts thereby etched, the surface is cleaned
and the etched parts filled either with gold paint or colours, or partly with gold
paint and partly with colours, or with vitrifiable colours, as herein-before explained
with respect to scribed designs.
By our Invention articles having vitreous or semi-vitreous surfaces can be rapidly
ornamented with designs which cannot be readily produced by the ordinary
processes of gilding and painting.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Guest and Thomas Guest in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st March 1878.
EDWARD GUEST, the younger, and THOMAS GUEST, both of Brettell Lane,
Kingswinford, in the County of Stafford, Glass Decorators. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ORNAMENTING SURFACES OF CHINA, MAJOLICA, AND EARTHENWARE, AND OTHER
VITREOUS OR SEMI-VITREOUS SURFACES."
In ornamenting the said surfaces according to our Invention we first etch or bite
in, by means of hydrofluoric acid, the ornament to be produced. This we effect by
first covering the surface with a stopping-out composition not acted upon by the
said acid. A mixture of bees' wax, Japan wax, tallow, and pitch answers very well,
but we do not confine ourselves to the use of this particular composition. In
making the said composition we take equal parts, by weight, of bees wax, Japan
wax, tallow, and pitch; we melt these materials and incorporate them well by
stirring.
The surface to be ornamented is warmed, and the stopping-out composition is
applied by dipping the article into a bath of the melted composition; or the melted
composition may be applied to the article to be coated by means of a brush, the
article being warmed before the application of the composition. Instead of this
composition a liquid composition may be employed, as herein-after described.
When the surface has cooled and the composition has set or hardened we mark or
"scribe" on the prepared surface to be ornamented the required pattern or design,
the said marking or scribing being by preference effected by means of the machines
commonly used for scribing patterns on curved or flat surfaces. By the said scribing
machine a pointed tool is made to remove the composition from the coated surface
in any desired pattern, the pattern being executed in lines. The surface is laid bare
in those places where the scribing tool has passed. As the said scribing machine is
well known and commonly employed for scribing on glass preparatory to etching
the same, we do not think it necessary to describe it. The scribed surface is next
treated with hydrofluoric acid, or a mixture of hydrofluoric acid with sulphuric
acid.
The portions of the surface from which the stopping-out composition has been
removed by the scribing process are acted upon by the said acid, and the pattern or
design is bitten into the glaze or surface.
We prefer to effect the etching by the use of hydrofluoric acid of about the
strength of commercial hydrofluoric acid diluted with one-eighth its volume of
water. As the acid becomes exhausted we strengthen it from time to time by the
addition of fresh undiluted acid, or we expose the articles to the action of the acid
during a longer time.
We prefer to effect the etching in a room having the temperature of about 60
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer.
When the pattern or design has been bitten to a sufficient depth to enable the
lines to retain colour (applied as herein-after explained), the article is taken from
the acid, and the stopping out composition is removed. We then proceed to fill in
the lines forming the pattern or design with gold paint or a mixture composed of
about three parts by volume of copal varnish or other hard varnish, and one part
by volume of turpentine, with which sufficient gold bronze has been mixed to make
it into a thin paste. This gold paint is rubbed into the lines bitten by the hydro-
fluoric acid in the vitreous surface, the parts of the surface unacted upon by the
acid not retaining any of the said gold paint. The said gold paint is allowed to
harden by exposure to the atmosphere or by the articles being heated in a japanner's
stove. The gold paint filling the lines becomes thus permanently fixed therein, and
is not liable to be injured by rubbing or wear, Instead of gold paint other metalliic
paints may be employed.

page_text: Instead of filling in the etched lines with gold or other metallic paint, colours
may be employed in conjunction with gold or metallic paint or without it.
The colours we employ are the pigments ordinarily used as paints mixed by
preference with copal or other hard varnish, and thinned, when necessary, by
turpentine. The said colours are applied in the way herein-before described with
reference to gold paint.
Instead of ordinary pigments mixed with varnish vitrifiable colours may be used.
In using the said vitrifiable colours we etch the designs in the manner herein-before
described, but instead of using gold paint or ordinary colours mixed with varnish
we employ the said vitrifiable colours, and subject the surface to which the said
vitrifiable colours have been applied to heat in enamelling kilns, so as to fuse the
vitrifiable colours in the etched lines.
The vitrifiable colours we employ are those ordinarily employed in enamel
painting, and are mixed with the same vehicles.
Instead of preparing the surface for the action of the acid by means of the
scribing process, the designs to be produced, particularly when they consist of figures
and landscapes, may be transferred from paper on which they have been printed
from steel or copper plates, or from stone.
The method we employ of producing and transferring the said designs to the
vitreous or semi-vitreous surface by the transfer process is essentially the same as
that practised in the ornamenting of surfaces by means of coloured transfers,
excepting that the transfer effected in our process acts as a stopping-out material to
protect portions of the surface from the action of the acid. The designs to be
transferred are executed in lines.
The composition which we have found to answer well in practice for printing the
designs to be transferred consists of one part by weight of bees' wax, one part by
weight of pitch, one part by weight of Japan wax, and two parts by weight of
turpentine. These materials are incorporated by being heated together, and are
thinned to the required consistency with black varnish or Brunswick black. We
do not confine ourselves to the use of this composition. If the designs printed with
this composition are too thin or transparent we add lamp black to the mixture until
the prints made with it are sufficiently dense.
Where the surface to which the design is to be transferred is black or dark it is
convenient to print the designs to be transferred with a coloured composition. In
such cases we add red lead to the composition, and omit the lamp black or Brunswick
black.
After the surface to which the design has been transferred has been treated with
hydrofluoric acid, and the unprotected parts thereby etched, the surface is cleaned
and the etched parts filled either with gold or metallic paint or colours, or partly
with gold or metallic paint and partly with colours, or with vitrifiable colours, as
herein-before explained with respect to scribed designs.
Where we have to ornament, according to our Invention, articles of complex form
or costly articles, or articles which cannot be immersed in the melted stopping-out
composition herein-before described without risk of fracture or injury, or which
cannot, without risk of injury, be heated for the application of the said composition
by means of a brush, we use stopping-out composition which can be applied to the
article at ordinary temperatures by means of a brush.
A suitable composition to be so applied may be made by taking four parts by
weight of pitch, and one part by weight of bees' wax. These are dissolved in
turpentine, of which so much is employed as will produce a liquid having the
consistency of varnish. This is applied by means of a brush.
The hardening of the varnish is effected by allowing the articles to stand twenty-
four hours exposed to the air. The evaporation of the turpentine leaves the
composition in a fit state to be acted upon by the scribing machine.
By our Invention articles having vitreous or semi-vitreous surfaces can be rapidly
ornamented with designs which cannot be readily produced by the ordinary
processes of gilding and painting.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit ourselves
to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of our Invention; but we claim as our Invention the improvements
in ornamenting surfaces of china, majolica, and earthenware, and other vitreous or
semi-vitreous surfaces herein-before described; that is to say, etching designs in
lines upon the said surfaces, and filling the etched lines with gold or other metallic
paint, or with colours, or partly with gold or other metallic paint and partly with
colours, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Guest and Thomas Guest, have here-
unto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM ROLLINSON,
Brettle Lane,
Staffordshire.
EDWARD GUEST, JUN³. (L.S.)
THOMAS GUEST.
(L.S.).