IMPROVEMENTS IN INLAYING AND COATING METALS WITH VARIOUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CYPRIEN
MARIE TESSIE DU MOTAY, of Paris, in the Kingdom of France, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of November, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Cyprien Marie Tessié Du Motay, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Cyprien Marie Tessié Du Motay, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Cyprien'
Marie Tessié Du Motay, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN INLAYING AND COATING METALS WITH VARIOUS SUBSTANCES;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Cyprien Marie Tessié du Motay, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause

page_text: the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Cyprien Marie Tessié du Motay, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof
(that is to say):-
The object of the present Invention is to produce ornamental designs on
various articles by depositing metal thereon, after the articles have been pro-
perly prepared by marking or cutting out the intended design thereon, and
which articles, when finished, have the appearance of being richly ornamented
with inlaid work. This art or method of ornamenting by inlaying in metal is
known in France as "Damasquinerie." The principle of the Invention consists
in depositing metals, or alloys of metals, upon various substances, either by
immersion or any other suitable means, and by that means producing incrusted
or damaskene work. The work produced by this Invention is very durable,
and not liable to be worn away by cleaning or friction, being quite equal in
solidity to the inlaid work produced by the ordinary means, and even superior
in point of finish. In order that the various modes of carrying out this
Invention may be fully understood, it is advisable to enter into some prelimi-
nary details respecting the method of preparing the articles to be operated
upon, or ornamented, or inlaid, which preparation is effected by means well
known and in use in various branches of the industrial arts and manufactures.
Art. I. Before depositing the metals intended to form the design, I com-
mence (except in the cases mentioned in Articles XI. and XII.) by producing
designs, arabesques, ornaments, letters or figures, of any description, either in
intaglio or in relief, upon the body of the article to be ornamented, which
may be made of lead, zinc, tin, iron, and steel (either cast or wrought),
copper, silver, platinum, gold, or any alloys or compounds of the same,
or any other alloys or compounds of metals used in the industrial arts
or manufactures; or any other substance may be used upon which metals
can be deposited, such as fine hard stone, marble, jasper, and porphyry
of all kinds, porcelain, hardware, pottery, pipe clay, either white or colored
ivory, mother-of-pearl, shells, bone, whalebone, horn, wood of all kinds,
and various other articles. I would here observe that the design to be
produced is always first marked upon the body of the article by any of the
following means (videlicet), first, by any of the means known in the industrial

page_text: arts, such as casting, stereotyping, or moulding, by employing moulds of
plaster, sand, metal, or other suitable material. Second, by any of the methods
employed in the industrial arts, such as pressure, compression, impression,
stamping, figuring, or cutting by means of dies, matrices, moulds, stamps,
punches, or other suitable tools, which may be worked by any convenient
apparatus, such as fly presses, monkeys, or by means of engraved metallic
cylinders, worked by a drawbench, laminating apparatus, or other suitable ap-
paratus. Third, by any of the known means of engraving and cutting by the
graver, the chisel, or the dry point, which may be worked either by hand or by any
suitable mechanism. Fourth, by any known means of etching or engraving by
biting in with acid or other suitable agents, or by employing the processes of
engraving by galvanism or electricity. These two latter processes answer the
same purpose (that is to say): in order to leave unprotected certain parts of the
article or substance which are to be dissolved, and to preserve others which
are not to be acted upon, two different processes are employed. The first
consists in covering the article or substance, while in a heated state, with a
varnish or composition composed of asphalte or bitumen, and virgin wax.
This varnish or composition, being melted by the heat, is spread evenly by means
of a ball of silk or fine leather, in the same manner as is practised in etching;
or the article or substance is covered while cold, by means of a brush, with a
varnish composed of asphalte or bitumen, dissolved in essence of turpentine or
other substances as hereafter mentioned in Article IV. When the protective
coating is dry, those parts which are to be acted upon, in order to be cut away
or removed, are laid bare by the point, as in ordinary etching operations. In
the second case, those points which are not intended to be attacked are
covered with a reserve or protective composition (prepared according to
Art. IV.) by means of a brush, by a process analogous to stencilling or by
printing in a manner similar to copper-plate printing, or by printing with one
of the compositions described in Art. IV., upon paper or other suitable fabric
capable of receiving the impression, the design or parts corresponding to the
parts to be preserved, and laying it on the piece of metal in the same manner
as is practised in lithography, or in printing porcelain or earthenware.
Reserves may also be produced by covering with reserve or protecting com-
positions a sheet of paper or other thin pliable fabric with the design cut out,
and immediately applying the fabric thus prepared on the metal after the same
has been well cleaned. The fabric will be firmly attached to the metal by
reason of the adhesive nature of the reserve composition.
Art. II. When an inlaying of one metal only is required, without employing
reserves, I proceed as follows:-The design, ornament, or device, having been

page_text: produced, either in intaglio or in relief, by any of the methods in dicated in Art. I.,
the metal is first cleansed, and then immersed in a bath of the metal, to be
deposited by the galvanic current or other means. When the metal has been
deposited to a thickness equal to the depth of the hollow parts of the design,
it is withdrawn from the solution and washed in water, and dried with sawdust,
or by any other convenient means; and as all the surface to be coated is entirely
covered by the metal deposited, the damaskened surfaces are laid bare by
means of freestone, emery, pumice stone, or by filing, rasping, planing,
scraping, grinding, turning, or by any other means which will remove the layer
of superfluous metal deposited, in order to uncover the inlaid or damaskened
work.
Art. III. If it be requisite to produce damaskened or inlaid work without
employing reserves, I proceed as follows:-Example, I take a piece of polished
steel, upon which, by any of the means mentioned in Art. I., the devices
required are produced, either in intaglio or in relief, to the depth of about one
fiftieth part of an inch. The piece is then cleaned, and without applying
reserves to the surfaces to be inlaid, it is immersed in a solution of copper, and
left there until the copper is deposited to the depth of about one hundredth
part of an inch. It is then withdrawn, washed, and dried, and again scoured,
if necessary, and immersed in a solution of silver, where it is left until the silver
has become deposited to the depth of about a hundredth part of an inch, after
which it is withdrawn from the bath and washed and dried and as after this
double deposit the hollow parts of the steel are entirely filled by the layers of
copper and silver, which have been successively deposited, it is cleared off by
any of the means mentioned in Art. II.; and if the devices have been in intaglio,
a design is produced, the ground of which is steel, and the incrustations silver
surrounded with a fillet of copper. If the devices are in relief, I obtain a
silver ground ornamented with devices in steel, surrounded with a fillet of
copper. When it is required to surround the inlayings or devices with
several parallel lines of different metals, it is only necessary to combine the
thicknesses of the successive layers according to the depth to which the design
is cut.
Art. IV. If damaskenes or coatings of one metal only are required to be
produced by employing reserves, they are applied as follows:-In order to
preserve certain parts of the metal from being covered by the metals
deposited, I make use of copal or oil varnish, mixed with minium, cinnabar,
pure baryte, or gamboge. The ink usually employed for letter-press or copper
plate printing may also be used for this purpose; or asphalte or bitumen
dissolved in essence of turpentine or any other substance which possesses the

page_text: property of resisting the action of the solution or bath in which it may be
immersed. These reserves are to be laid on by means of a brush or by
inking balls or rollers or any other convenient means. The ornaments or
devices having been produced either in intaglio or in relief on the article by
any of the means mentioned in Art. I., I cover, by means of reserves, all those
parts on which metal is not required to be deposited. When the reserves are
dry, the article, after being well scoured, is immersed in a solution or bath
of the metal to be deposited. When the intaglio parts are quite filled up
by the metal deposited, it is withdrawn from the bath, and after being washed
and dried the reserves are cleaned off, and the surface is slightly filed or
scraped by any of the means mentioned in Art. II. I would again observe
that if the devices are in intaglio, the ground of the damaskened or inlaid
article is formed by the metal forming the article; whereas, if the devices
be in relief the ground is produced by the metal deposited (that is to say),
that in this latter case the device is formed by the elevated portions of the
metal.
Art. V. In order to produce by means of reserves damaskened or inlaid
devices in several metals, the intaglio parts of which are of an equal depth,
or of which the raised parts are of an equal height, I proceed as follows:-I
take a piece of metal (gold, commonly called green gold, or English gold
for instance) upon which I produce the required devices, either in intaglio or
in relief, by any of the means mentioned in Art. I. It is then well cleaned,
and the parts in relief, and also such of the intaglio parts as are not intended
to receive the first deposit, are covered with any of the reserves, and by any of
the means mentioned in Arts. I. and IV. When the reserves are dry the
metal is to be again cleaned, if necessary, and then immersed in a solution of
silver. When the. parts not covered with reserve are completely coated
with silver, the article is withdrawn from the solution, washed, and dried,
and the first reserves are removed by means of essence of turpentine, a
hot solution of potash, or any other suitable means. Fresh reserves are
then applied to those parts which are required to be protected during the
next deposition, and when these reserves are dry the piece of metal is to be
again scoured if requisite, and immersed in a solution of gold, and when
the unreserved parts are completely coated with the gold, it is withdrawn
from the solution, and washed and dried, and if necessary filed; scraped, or
otherwise levelled. By these means a device is obtained, the ground of
which is composed of green or English gold, with inlayings of silver and
fine gold. By the same means damaskenes or inlaid designs in five or six
different metals might be produced.

page_text: Art. VI. Damaskenes or inlayings of several metals may be produced without
the application of reserves by producing devices either in intaglio or in relief
of different depths. For example, I take a piece of brass with devices in
intaglio of two different depths, some being one hundredth and others one
fiftieth of an inch deep. It is to be well cleansed and immersed in a solution
of zinc. When the zinc has become deposited to such a thickness as to
fill up the most shallow parts of the device, the piece is withdrawn from the
solution, washed, dried, again scoured if necessary, and immersed in a
solution of pure copper. When the copper has been deposited to a depth
of one hundredth of an inch so as to fill up the deepest parts (already half
filled by the zinc), the piece is withdrawn from the solution, washed, and
dried, and the device laid lare by any of the means mentioned in Art. II.,
until the brass forming the picce, and also the zinc first deposited and the
copper deposited afterwards, are made to appear (that is to say), most of the
copper deposited upon the zinc is removed in denuding the design, and is only
left in the deepest parts. By this means an inlaying of zinc and copper will
be produced upon a brass ground, the copper being surrounded by a fillet
formed by the layer of zinc upon which the copper was deposited. The same
effect will be produced by forming the devices in relief.
Art. VII. When it is required to produce damaskenes or designs in relief by
filling up devices in intaglio, I take the piece with the intaglio parts formed
therein, and, by any of the means of reserve mentioned in Art. IV., preserve
those parts which are not required to be covered with metal. When the
reserves are dry the piece is to be again scoured if necessary, and immersed in
a solution of the metal to be deposited; and when the metal has become
deposited to such a depth as to form raised designs upon the surface, it is with-
drawn from the solution and cleansed. The edges of the designs may be
afterwards trimmed with a graver or other tool, if necessary.
Art. VIII. Damaskene or inlaid work in one metal only may also be produced
by forming, by any of the means mentioned in Art. I., devices or ornaments on
a level piece previously covered with a layer of metal deposited by the electro-
type or other known means, without soldering. For this purpose I proceed as
follows: I take a piece of metal, or other suitable substance, well scoured
and made perfectly level, and immerse it in a solution of any different metal.
When the metal has been deposited to the required thickness, the piece is
withdrawn, and after being washed, dried, and wiped, it is submitted to the
action of any of the means of stamping or pressing mentioned in Art. I., by
which the required designs are produced, either in intaglio or in relief. This
pressure depresses those portions of the metallic deposit corresponding to the

page_text: parts in relief on the matrix or die; and on scraping away, by any of the
means mentioned in Art. II., the only portions which will remain of the
metallic deposit will be those depressed by the die or matrix, the elevations
and depressions in which must be all of the same height.
Art. 1X. Damaskenes or inlayings in several metals may also be produced by
means of pressure. For this purpose I proceed according to Art. VIII. (that is
to say), I take an even surface, which I cover without soldering, either by immer-
sion or by electro deposition, with several coats of different metals. Each of
these layers is of a certain thickness, according to the depth of the parts of the
die which are in relief. The last coating being deposited, the piece is to be
withdrawn from the last solution, washed, and wiped dry; when dry it is to be
submitted to the action of pressure stamping by means of dies or matrices,
the intaglio parts of which are of equal depth, and the reliefs of different
heights, or reliefs of equal heights and intaglios of various depths. These
must be calculated in such a manner that by reason of the penetration of
the projecting parts of the die to a greater or less depth, the layers of metal
being in certain parts driven to greater or less depths, may, on the surface
being laid bare, be of the same level as the inlaid surface.
Art. X. In order to produce by means of pressure double-faced damaskenes
or devices, they are to be stamped, either in intaglio or in relief, upon a thin
sheet of any suitable metal, by means of matrices, the sunken and relief parts
of which are of equal depth. The devices being stamped will, in consequence
of the thinness of the metal, be apparent on both sides, that which is intaglio
on one side being in relief on the other; so that if a sheet of silver, for
example, thus stamped and suitably scoured, be immersed in a bath or
solution of gold, and left until sufficient gold has been deposited to fill up the
hollow parts in both sides, a design will be produced on that side where the
devices were in intaglio, having a silver ground and designs in gold; and on
the other side, where they were in relief, a gold ground and silver designs.
Art. XI. By the process which I am about to describe, damaskenes or inlaid
designs may be produced on a plain surface (i. e.) without forming designs,
either in intaglio or in relief, but a double coating of metal level designs
may be produced. For this purpose I take a piece of any suitable metal
(copper, for instance), one of the surfaces of which is smooth and polished; I
scour it and apply upon the polished surface either a general reserve, in which
designs or ornaments are delineated by means of a point or other suitable tool, or
reserves forming designs or ornaments may be applied by any of the means
mentioned at the end of Art. I. When the reserves are dry, I again scour if
necessary, and immerse the piece of copper in a solution of silver. When the

page_text: layer of silver has been deposited to the thickness required, the piece of copper
is withdrawn, and washed and dried, and devices in silver will be deposited
on all the parts where the copper was left free from reserve. These first
reserves are then destroyed, as mentioned in Art. V.; and if the designs require
trimming, this is done by means of a graver or other suitable tool. The piece
is then again scoured, and fresh reserves are applied upon the parts where the
silver has been deposited. When these reserves are dry, I again scour if
necessary, and immerse the piece in a solution of gold, which will be deposited
only upon those parts of the copper which were left bare, and not upon the
silver devices which are protected by the reserves. When the thickness of the
coating of gold is equal to that of the silver deposit, I withdraw the piece, and
wash and dry it, and remove the reserves, as mentioned in Art. V., and
scrape off if necessary. By this means I obtain damaskenes, or inlaid designs
in gold and silver, upon a copper ground.
Art. XII. When I wish by the same means (that is to say), by double
deposition, to obtain damaskenes or inlaid work with two faces (an
upper and an under one), I proceed in the manner mentioned in Art. XI.,
only before immersing the plate in the solutions I submit it to fumi-
gation, or to the action of fatty vapours, in order that the metals about
to be deposited may not adhere too firmly. When the second metallic
deposit has become equal in thickness to the first, the metallic deposit is
removed from the plate, which served as a foundation for it. By this means
damaskenes or inlaid metallic deposits are produced with the design equally
visible on both sides. By this process, by means of reserves, damaskenes or
inlaid work in three, four, or more metals may be produced, in which case
the reserves must be applied as many times as the different metals are required
to be deposited.
Art. XIII. When it is required to produce damaskenes or inlayings in
one or more metals, by means of a plate with the devices stamped right
through it like a stencil plate, I proceed as follows:-If, instead of a plate
with the ornaments in intaglio or in relief, a plate with the design cut out
be employed, I apply the said plate upon a sheet of any appropriate metal
(copper, for instance), and fix it there by means of rosin, or by clamps, pins,
rivets, screws, or other suitable means, and fill up the designs cut out by
electro deposition, or other known processes, with one or more metals. When
the spaces are completely filled up, the inlaid plate is removed from the sheet of
metal on which it was fixed; and in order to facilitate their separation, the
plate on which the design is cut must be well scoured, whilst the other plate
must be prepared in the manner mentioned in Art. XII., in order to prevent the

page_text: metals deposited from sticking to it. Reserves are moreover applied upon the
plain parts of the plate, carefully avoiding touching the edges of the designs
with the reserves. If more than one metal is required to be deposited, as
many reserves are to be applied as there are metals to be deposited.
Art. XIV. Damaskenes or incrusted devices may also be produced upon other
substances besides metal upon which metals may be deposited. The processes for
this purpose are the same as those employed when operating upon metals, with
this difference however, that in order to render the said substances capable of
receiving the metallic deposit, they must, before immersion, be prepared with
plumbago, fine copper powder, or by any other known means of rendering
such substances fit to receive the metallic deposit. I would here observe, that
if it be desired to coat the whole of the article with metal, I cover the whole
of it with the conducting material, and in this case the surface must be
scraped or rasped; if, on the contrary, the metal is only to be deposited
on certain parts, those parts only which are intended to be coated are to
be covered with the conducting material. When the second process is to
be used, all the parts covered with the conducting material, in order to
be coated with metal, must be perfectly continuous; in this latter case,
after the deposition of the metal or metals, it is only necessary to smooth
it if necessary.
By this means, damaskenes or inlaid designs may be
produced upon fine or hard stones, marble, various kinds of porphyry,
jasper, porcelain, and earthenware, either white or colored glass, or crystal,
either white or coloured, or on ivory, mother-of-pearl, bone, shell, whale-
bone, horn, wood, &c. Any known means may be employed to produce
the designs or ornaments, either in intaglio or in relief, on any of the non-
metallic substances above mentioned, such for instance, as casting, moulding,
stamping, pressing, engraving, cutting, &c. To operate upon non-metallic
substances, having designs cut out of them, I proceed in the same manner
as when treating metallic substances, only that, in that case, the parts not
to be coated are not to be reserved, the edges only of the designs are to be
covered with the conducting material.
Art. XV. In order to produce devices or ornaments to be inlaid in wood,
marble, stone of any kind, ivory, mother-of-pearl, shell, bone, whalebone,
horn, &c., by the ordinary means, I proceed as follows:-I take a plate or
sheet of any metal (tin, for instance, smooth and even for straight beadings,
or of any other form according to the design required), and coat it first with
a layer of copper of a suitable thickness, then with a coating of zinc, and
upon that another of copper, and so on until the desired thickness is obtained.
As the successive coats of metal entirely cover the tin core, parallel layers
of metal are thus obtained, which differ from each other, both as regards

page_text: With
the different kinds of metal and their various thicknesses. On cutting the
sheet thus produced into thin strips in the direction of its thickness, designs
will be produced consisting of parallel lines of tin, copper, and zinc.
regard to other devices or ornaments, such as roses, stars, circles, &c., I pro-
duce them by taking a metal core of a certain length, either solid or hollow,
and of the form desired to be produced, and coating it with successive and
alternate layers of different metals. When these deposits have been made
to the required thickness, they are cut into thin dises. By this means devices
are produced from a single core, consisting of successive and alternate threads
or fillets of metal of the exact form of the core. If the core, of whatever
form or metal, be solid, the parallel threads of metal will only be on its outside;
if it be hollow, they will also be inside, as the metal will be deposited on both
sides. The cores to be used for the above purposes may be formed by any
of the known means, such as casting, moulding, laminating, staniping, &c.,
mentioned in Art. I.
Having now described my Invention and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that I do not mean or intend to
claim as of my Invention the deposition of metals by the electrotype, or any
other process, except for the purposes herein set forth; but that which I
consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, consists in inlaying or
depositing various metals or alloys of metals in any required thickness upon
any articles composed of any metals or alloys, or compounds of metals, or upon
any non-metallic substance whercon metals may be deposited by immersion
or electro deposition, for the purpose of producing various kinds of devices,
ornaments, figures, letters, or other marks upon articles or objects of any
form or dimensions, by the various processes above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cyprien Marie Tessié Du Motay, have
hercunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
Taken and acknowledged by Cyprien
Marie Tessié Du Motay (party
hereto), at Nantes, in the King-
dom of France, the Twenty-ninth
day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-eight before me.
C. M. DU MOTAY. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that upon the acknowledgment above said
the Instrument aforesaid was inrolled, word for word, as above written. And
also the Instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King
George the Third.
Inrolled the Fourth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and forty-
eight.