IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL OR MAREZZO MARBLE, AND IN COLOURING, ORNAMENTING, AND INLAYING CEMENTS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davey, of New Cavendish Street, London,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL
OR MAREZZO MARBLE, AND IN COLOURING, ORNAMENTING, AND INLAYING
CEMENTS."
Sealed the 24th November 1871, and dated the 28th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th September 1871.
I, GEORGE DAVEY, of New Cavendish Street, London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL OR MAREZZO MARBLE, AND IN COLOURING, ORNAMENTING,
AND INLAYING CEMENTS," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to the manufacture of artificial
or Marezzo marble, and consists of the following process or mode: -A
piece of plate glass is taken of the required shape or form, or several
pieces are placed together so as to form one surface not less than the
required size of the slab or other piece of artificial marble to be pro-

page_text: duced, and this surface of glass is put upon a frame or frames supported
by standards or other firm supports. Fibres of silk or other suitable
fibres longer than the length or width of the slab are then to be taken
and dipped in suitable colours mixed with liquid according to the nature
of the vein or figure of the marble to be imitated. These fibres are to be
adjusted by hand upon the glass surface in such an artistic manner as to
resemble the natural veins and figures of the marble intended to be
imitated.
Should it be required to represent in the artificial marble other
figures or designs than the veins, suitable colors are to be mixed with
fine cement, by preference Keene's patent marble cement, with liquid in
the form and shape required, and placed among the fibres representing
or producing the veins. Or the use of fibres may be dispensed with
in some cases, where it is desired to produce artificial marble in which
veins do not ordinarily appear, and the desired effect may be produced
by the use of color cement and liquid by amalgamating them in the
manner dictated by the natural figures of the marble to be imitated.
Upon the fibres so colored as already described, or the combinations of
color and cement, is to be poured or spread a sufficient quantity of fine
cement, by preference Keene's, mixed with liquid so as to cover the
colored fibres and the composition already described with a thickness of
about one-eighth of an inch or more. If fibres are used they are to be
carefully drawn up from the glass through the yielding body of the
cement and the cement is then to be smoothly.pressed down by a trowel
or similar implement so as to form an even layer upon the glass. And
this surface may be backed by a piece of canvass or other suitable
material, or a layer of coarser cement may be spread over the surface
to any required thickness. The whole is then allowed to set for a
time, varying from one to thirty hours. When imitative marbles are
required to be made of the forms of table tops, panels, or mouldings,
moulds are employed which are placed on the surface of the glass,
and in like manner pilasters, columns, or other circular or irregular
objects may be constructed.
The second part of my Invention consists of inlaying artificial or
Marezzo marble by imbedding any ornamental design or pattern in the
plastic mass of cement.
And, thirdly, my Invention consists of so coloring and ornamenting
cements or clay as to produce an ornamental brick by fixing or

page_text: imbedding the ornamentation by suitably shaped rods, wires, or pins,
or by covering them with the Marezzo marble and allowing the whole.
to dry.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Davey in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE.
DAVEY, of New Cavendish Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said George Davey, Her
special, licence that I, the said George Davey, my executors, admin-
istrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Davey,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agrec
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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL OR MAREZZO MARBLE,
AND IN COLORING, ORNAMENTING, AND INLAYING CEMENTS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said George Davey, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Davey, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
My Invention relates, firstly, to the manufacture of slabs or variously
shaped pieces of marble in imitation of slabs of veined or other marbles

page_text: of various kinds and sizes, by placing a piece (or several pieces of plate
glass together) so as to form a surface or sort of table not less than the
required size of the slab of marble required, perfectly level, and laid
horizontally upon a frame or frames which may be variously constructed,
and supported by suitable standards or other firm and level supports,
and so that the workman can see under the frame and observe the
progress of the process. Then for imitating veined marble I take fibres
of silk or other suitable fibres capable of absorbing and communi-
cating color. They should be longer than the length or width of the.
slab, so that their ends can be laid hold of. These fibres are to be dipped
in such suitable color or colors (mixed with a liquid suitable for the
liquefaction of the particular color) as may be necessary for imitating
the veins or figures of the marble intended to be imitated, and the fibres
of silk so colored are to be laid upon the glass so as to imitate in an
artistic manner the required veins and figures of the natural marble
intended to be imitated.
Should it be desired to imitate marbles in which other figures and colors
than veins appear, I then mix together suitable imitating colors and
portions of the finest cement, preferring that known as Keene's patent
marble cement, with liquid, and I place such portions of the cement of
the required size, form, and color on the glass amongst the fibres
representing the veined portions. Sometimes I discard the fibres
altogether and use only the colored portions or figures as above
described, if it be required to imitate marbles in which veins do not
appear, and by amalgamating and mingling them in imitation of the
colors and forms of the natural marble intended to be imitated I
produce the effect desired. In cither case (that is whether I wish to
produce colored veins or other forms not being veins) I then take the
finest white cement, such as above mentioned, mixed with liquid, and, if
necessary, also colored, and I spread the mixture over the surface of the
glass, and over and upon the colored fibres and cement adhering thereto,
so as to cover the same to the thickness of about an eighth of an inch,
or more, and the colored fibres, and other colored patches of cement, if
any, are to be left under the above-mentioned mixture of cement for
such time as may be necessary for the colored cement to adhere, and to
be sucked up into the superincumbent layer of cement, and to impart
the color to its under surface. That time may vary according to the
density of the layer of cement. Usually a few minutes suffice. The
fibres used as before described are then lifted up by their overlapping

page_text: ends, and are drawn carefully up from the glass through the yielding
body of the cement, and are then removed, and the colored cement so
spread upon the glass is then smoothly pressed down by a trowel or
other suitable implement so as to form an even layer upon the glass. I
then take a piece of canvas or other suitable material and lay it smoothly
upon the upper side of the cement so lying on the glass. A layer of
coarser cement (but of similar kind) is then to be spread upon the
cemented and colored mass until it attains the desired thickness, so as
to give the slab sufficient strength according to its size. The whole is
then allowed to set upon the surface of the glass, but not to remain so
long as to prevent its casy removal from the glass, by reason of its
increasing adherence thereto, and the time necessary varies according to
circumstances from one to thirty hours. When the marbles intended to
be veined or colored are required to be made in such forms as table-
tops, panels, or mouldings, I place moulds of the intended form contain-
ing such cement as aforesaid upon the surface of the glass, and fix them
either by cements, cramps, or pins, as may be found convenient, and I
apply the veining fibres or colored patches to the cement contained in
the mould in a manner similar to that before described for flat slabs, and
increase the thickness as may be required by adding a cement backing
as before described. For pilasters, columns, or other circular or irregular
objects, I construct also suitable moulds in various pieces made to fit
cach other exactly to the complete form desired, and I apply the colors
and cement as before described to each piece of the mould separately,
but taking care to continue the veining of the fibres and colors from one
part of the mould to another part, so that the design is continuous from
one to the other, so that when the parts of the mould are united the
designs or patterns of the marble appear connected as in one piece like
real marbles. The colored cement is then lined over within the mould
by a backing of coarser cement, and the object thus made hollow may
be then filled up or strengthened with any suitable material as may be
required.
C

page_text: in its plastic condition, and while therefore it is capable of running
around and into the sides of the inlaid objects or designs, and thus
securely fixing them in its solid substance. And in order to secure the
adhesion of the inlaid object to the cement, I make the objects to be
inlaid with bevelled, slotted, indented, or rough sides, into which the
cement flows and when dry firmly adheres, whereas if the sides were
smooth the cement would fail to hold them in place. By this means I
can inlay and imbed an ornamental device either in buhl, mosaic, or
other design of various substances and colors in the substance of the
artificial marble, or I can inlay a piece of artificial marble of one pattern
in artificial marble of another pattern, the former being inserted when
dry into the plastic mass of the latter. It may be necessary sometimes,
when the ornamental objects to be inlaid into artificial marble are of
considerable size, in addition to making them with rough or indented, or
bevelled sides, to use pins or rods in order to hold them firmly in place,
and these pins or rods may sometimes be required only until the backing
of cement dries, or they may be left in the backing. After the object
has been inlaid and the colored cement applied, I back up the artificial
marble either with canvas or a backing of coarser cement, or with
both.
The third part of my Invention consists in ornamenting bricks or
imitation marble by inserting therein various designs made of any
suitable heat resisting substance or material by imbedding such design
in the brick clay or cement flush with the surface thereof, while the
brick or cement is in its plastic condition. And I manufacture an
ornamental brick having a veneer or surface of artificial marble applied
either to a mass of clay or cement. I fix or imbed these ornamentations
sometimes by rods, wires, or pins, in their proper place and position, and
sometimes I use only suitable cement for the purpose, and then proceed
to cover them with the Marezzo marble in its plastic condition, and allow
the whole to dry upon the surfaces or moulds in which they are manu-
factured. When the marbles or imbedded designs are removed from the
moulds or surfaces on which they are formed they are rubbed down and
stopped with cement where any holes may occur; they may then be
"stoned" and allowed to dry, after which they are ready for polishing
or enamelling by the usual processes, and may be sawn and cut into
various shapes and sizes and polished in the same manner as ordinary
marble.

page_text: .
Having now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which I carry the same into practice, I'do hereby declare
that I do not claim the exclusive use of fibres of silk generally for the
purpose of communicating color to plastic cements, nor do I claim any
of the separate portions of the three processes herein-before described
taken separately, but I confine my claim to each of the three processes
herein-before described taken as a whole process or combination of
operations.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davey, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Fifteenth day of February One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
CHARLES BARLOW,
Patent Agent,
23, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lanc.
GEORGE DAVEY. (L.S.)