IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING SURFACES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Tearne, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Japanner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING
SURFACES."
Sealed the 15th July 1859, and dated the 2nd February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Tearne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
February 1859.
I, SAMUEL TEARNE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Japanner,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ORNAMENTING SURFACES," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist of the methods herein-after explained of orna-
menting surfaces, by first gilding, silvering, or bronzing the same, and
afterwards transferring thereto designs printed upon transfer paper, the said
transferred designs concealing certain parts of the gilded, silvered, or bronzed
surface. The transferred design remains permanently attached to the surface
to be ornamented, and forms part of the finished design. Where the surface
to be ornamented is of glass or other transparent substance, and the finished
design is to be viewed through the said transparent substance, the order in
which the gold, silver, or bronze, and transferred design are applied, is modified
as herein-after explained.
For the sake of convenience of description, I will herein-after describe my

page_text: Invention as carried into effect with the use of gold leaf. In order to orna-
ment a surface of papier maché, or japan, or other opaque substance, I proceed
as follows: I attach gold leaf to the said surface by means of a solution of
isinglass or gelatine; I take a design printed on transfer paper, the said design
being printed in two or more colors; all those parts of the transfer paper are
left without color where gold is to appear in the finished design.. I varnish
the said printed design with copal or other suitable varnish, and lay
it down and rub it upon the gilded surface so as to bring it into close
contact therewith. When the varnish has hardened, the transfer paper
may be removed by wetting and rubbing it, when the colours printed on
the transfer paper will be left firmly secured upon the gold leaf, the said
gold leaf shewing in those places where no colour was transferred. When
the transfer is made by printing two or more colours upon. one another, the
said colours must be printed in an inverse order, so that when reversed by
transferring they may appear in the proper order. When the ornament is
upon glass and to be viewed through the glass, I print the colours of the
print to be transferred in the usual order, and transfer the design to the glass.
I afterwards apply gold leaf to the back of the design, or to those parts only
which were left colourless in the transferred design. I sometimes introduce
gold or other metallic leaf upon the design to be transferred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Tearne in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
TEARNE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Japanner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Tearne, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Tearne,
my executors, administrators, and. assigns, or such others as I... the said
Samuel Tearne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-

page_text: MENTS IN ORNAMENTING SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Samuel Tearne, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Tearne, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My improvements consist of the methods herein-after explained of orna-
nienting surfaces, the said methods consisting essentially of first gilding,
silvering, or bronzing the said surfaces on those parts to which the design is
to be applied, and afterwards transferring thereto designs printed upon transfer
paper, the said transferred designs concealing certain parts of the gilded,
silvered, or bronzed surface. The transferred design remains permanently
attached to the surface to be ornamented, and forms part of the finished
design. Where the surface to be ornamented is of glass or other transparent
substance, and the finished design is to be viewed through the said transparent
substance, the order in which the gold, silver, or bronze, and transferred design
are applied is modified, as herein-after explained.
My Invention is applicable to the ornamenting of the surfaces of articles
made of papier mâché, or of such other substances, metallic and non-metallic,
as are or may be ornamented by the application thereto of transferred
designs.
For the sake of convenience of description I will herein-after describe my
Invention, as carried into effect with the use of gold leaf. In order to orna.
ment a surface of papier mâché, or japan, or other opaque substance according
to my Invention, I proceed as follows:-I attach gold leaf to the said surface
by means of a solution of isinglass or gelatine, in the manner ordinarily
practised in ornamenting japanned wares with gold. I take a design printed
on transfer paper, the said design being printed in two or more colors. All
these parts of the transfer paper are left without color, which correspond with
the parts where gold is to appear in the finished design; I varnish the said
printed design with copal or other suitable varnish, and lay it, face downwards,
upon the gilded surface and rub it thereon, so as to bring it into close contact
therewith; or, instead of varnishing the printed design,. I varnish the gilded
surface, and lay the unvarnished printed design, face downwards, upon the

page_text: varnished gilded surface. The transfer paper is removed by wetting and
rubbing it, when the colours printed on the transfer paper will be left firmly
secured upon
the gold leaf, the said gold leaf being visible only in those places
where no colour has been transferred upon it. When the transfer is made by
printing two or more colours upon one another, the said colours must be
printed in an order the inverse of that in which they are ordinarily printed,
so that when reversed by transferring they may appear in the proper order.
When the ornament is to be transferred upon glass, and to be viewed through
the glass, I print the colors of the print to be transferred in the usual order,
and transfer the design to the glass. I afterwards apply gold leaf to the back
of the transferred design, or to those parts only which were left colourless in
the transferred design. Where the finished design contains much gold, I gild
all that part of the surface on which the transfer takes place, and after the
transfer has been effected I remove any superfluous gold external to the
transferred design by wetting and rubbing it, as is well understood. Where
the finished design is large and contains gold only in small portions and at
distant points, I do not gild the whole of the surface covered by the design,
but only those portions where gold is required, taking care always to cover
larger spaces than those to be left in the finished design, so that the edges of
the gilded portions of the finished design shall be formed by the transfer. The
ornamental surface is varnished in the ordinary manner after the transfer of
the design thereto.
Although, for convenience of description, I have only described my Inven-
tion as carried into effect with gold leaf, yet I wish it to be distinctly under-
stood that, instead of gold leaf, silver, or other leaf or bronze may be employed,
and that portions of the finished design may be of one metal or bronze, and
other portions of other metal or bronze, by applying different metals or bronzes
at the requisite places. I sometimes introduce gold or other suitable metallic
'leaf or bronze upon the design to be transferred, the said gold or other leaf or
bronze forming part of the design and transferred therewith to the surface to
be ornamented.
My Invention may be applied to the ornamenting of any surface sufficiently
hard to bear the pressure requisite for effecting thereon the transfer of a printed
design; but my Invention is especially applicable to the ornamenting of
papier mâché and japanned goods, metallic and non-metallic, furniture and
articles of glass.
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

page_text: without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention, the improvements in ornamenting surfaces herein-before described,
that is to say, ornamenting surfaces by coating or covering the portion of the
surface to be ornamented with gold or other metallic leaf or bronze, and
transferring upon the gilded, silvered, or bronzed surface a design printed in
two or more colors upon transfer paper, the said transferred printed design
being permanently attached to and covering portions only of the gilded,
silvered, or bronzed surface.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Tearne, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
SAMUEL TEARNE. (L.S.)