A NEW METHOD OF POLISHING, DYING, AND COLORING MARBLE, STONE, AND CERTAIN OTHER MATERIALS USED IN THE CON- STRUCTION OR DECORATION OF HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI:
AUGUSTE BEX, of No. 3, Great Titchfield Street, in the Parish of Saint
Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, Architectural Decorator, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of December, in the ninth year of Her reign;
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henri Auguste Bex, Her especial license that I, the said Henri Auguste
Bex, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henri Auguste Bex, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW METHOD OF POLISHING, DYING, AND
COLORING MARBLE, STONE, AND CERTAIN OTHER MATERIALS USED IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OR DECORATION OF HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Henri Augustė
Bex, 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 the same to be enrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henri Auguste Bex, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention to consist,―
First, in polishing marble and stone; by filling up the pores of such marble
and stone with plaster of Paris or marble cement, then rubbing them with
certain hard stones, applying a thin layer of plaster before each rubbing, and
lastly, rubbing them with wax, or a mixture of wax and turpentine.
Secondly, in polishing certain other materials used in the construction or
decoration of houses or other buildings, by rubbing them with a varnish of
gum lac.
And thirdly, in dying and colouring marble, stone, and certain other ma-
terials used in the construction or decoration of houses and other buildings,
by wetting them with certain acids, salts, and colouring materials, or certain
chemical combinations of such acids, salts, or colouring materials, by means of
a brush or sponge.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Henri Auguste
Bex, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be per-
formed, by the following statement. thereof (that is to say):-
To polish marble and stone, I first rub the surface to be polished with
a piece of sandstone, and afterwards with a piece of sandstone of a finer
description, in the same manner as is now ordinarily practised, but I do not
claim this as part of my Invention; I then stop up the pores of the marble or
stone with plaster of Paris mixed with a thin solution of gelatine and some
colouring material, to render it of the same color as the marble or stone to be
polished, till it obtains the consistence of cream, or with marble cement mixed
with water and some coloring matter, till it obtains the same consistence and is
similarly coloured. I lay on these mixtures respectively, as the case may be,
with a brush, and afterwards scrape them off with a wooden knife, taking care
that all the pores of the marble or stone are filled up; I then rub the marble
or stone with a kind of sandstone called Charley Forest stone; I then stop
the pores of the marble or stone again if necessary in the same manner as
before, and afterwards rub them again with a piece of Charley Forest stone,
after that with a piece of stone called German stone, and finally with a piecc
of touchstone. Before each of these rubbings I lay on with a brush a thin
coat of plaster of Paris or marble cement mixed with water of the consistence
of milk, and lastly, should the color of the marble or stone be clear, I lay on
a coat of wax, or a mixture of wax and turpentine, and rub it with a linen,
cotton, or wollen rag till the marble or stone becomes perfectly polished; but
if the color of the marble or stone should not be clear before applying the wax
or mixture of wax or turpentine, I rub it with linseed oil till the color becomes

page_text: clear, taking care to remove all the oil before I apply the wax or mixture of wax
and turpentine; but I do not claim the rubbing the material to be polished.
with linseed oil or wax, or a mixture of wax and turpentine, as part of my
Invention. In addition to the above process, I sometimes rub the marble or
stone to be polished with a piece of jasper if a very brilliant polish is required.
I polish the certain other materials used in the construction or decoration of
houses and other buildings in the same manner as I polish marble and stone, as
above described, till I have completed the rubbing with Charley Forest stone;
but I do not claim this part of the process as my Invention. I then rub them
with linseed oil, taking care to wipe it off thoroughly, and then varnish them
with a varnish of gum lac in the following manner (that is to say) :-I take a
ball of wool and wet the surface of it with the varnish and cover it with a linen
rag; I then rub the materials to be polished in the same manner as is now
practised in polishing household furniture, adding a little oil occasionally if
the varnish should not work freely.
To dye and color marble, stone, and the certain other materials used in
the construction or decoration of houses and other buildings, I employ the
same system of acids and salts or colouring materials, and the chemical com-
binations of the said acids, salts, or coloring materials as is generally used by
dyers in dying cloths and other textile fabrics, and I apply the said acids, salts,
or colouring materials, or the chemical combinations of the said acids, salts,
and coloring materials in a liquid state over the surface of the material required
to be dyed or colored by means of a brush or sponge. If I wish the dyed or
coloured surfaces to have the same polish as the rest of the substance I am
operating upon, I apply the said colouring materials before I begin to polish
the said substance, or when the process of polishing is only half finished; but
if I wish the dyed or coloured part to be dead, or unpolished, I apply the
colouring materials after the process of polishing is completed; but I do not
claim as my Invention the composition of the said acids and salts or colouring
materials, or the chemical combinations of the said acids, salts, or colouring
materials, but only the application of them in the manner above described to
the dying and colouring of marble, stone, and certain other materials used in
the construction or decoration of houses and other buildings.
And whereas the certain other materials used in the construction or deco-
ration of houses and other buildings to which I allude in the title to my said
Invention, are plaster, stucco, scagliola, and a species of stucco invented in
France, and introduced by me for the first time in England, and which is called
stuc à la brosse, now I claim as my Invention the following (that is to say) :-
First, the filling up with plaster of Paris or marble cement, in the manner

page_text: above described, the pores of the marble and stone intended to be polished,
and the rubbing them with certain hard stones, as herein-before explained.
Secondly, the polishing of the certain other materials used in the construc-
tion or decoration of houses and other buildings, and above more particularly
described, by rubbing them with a varnish of gum lac, in the manner herein-
before mentioned. I do not claim the said system of varnishing as my Inven-
tion, but only the application of it to the polishing of the said certain
materials.
Thirdly, in dying and colouring marble, stone, and the said other materials
above more particularly described, by wetting them with certain acids and salts
or colouring materials, or certain chemical combinations of the said acids and
salts or colouring materials, above more particularly described, by means of a
brush or sponge.
And such my Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief new,
and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the said Dominion of Wales,
or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Specifi-
cation of the saine, and that I do verily believe this my said Specification
doth comply in all respects with the proviso in the said herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth
day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and