IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENT- ING SURFACES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Manuel Vary, of Scarborough, in the County of
York, Decorator, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENT-
ING SURFACES."
Sealed the 17th August 1869, and dated the 18th February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Manuel Vary at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1869.
I, MANUEL VARY, of Scarborough, in the County of York, Decorator,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ORNAMENTING SURFACES," to be as follows:-
The improvements consist in a system or method of transferring
designs or characters from or by means of paper, calico, linen, wood, leather,
or such like material to any surface required; and also in perforating
such paper or material aforesaid for convenience of application, and
which perforations may also form and be the design itself or form a part
thereof when required.

page_text: The Invention may be performed as follows:-I take a piece of paper
or other suitable material as above and coat or prepare it with size in
any convenient way. On the sized surface I print, stencil, paint, or
otherwise make any design or character in or of any color or colors or
material required, or I cut, stamp, or perforate out any design or
character; or I partly print, &c. and partly cut, &c. the design or
character required. I then take finely pulverized pitch, bitumen, resin,
or any resinous gum and dust it or cast in evenly over the paper or
transfer material, brushing off the superfluous dust or powder, after which
I expose the paper or transfer material to a sufficient amount of heat to
allow the gum to flow and lie evenly, and after it is dry I apply or pass
or cause to flow over the design and the paper or transfer material
alcohol, mythelated spirit, ether, chloroform, or any spirit by means of
which the design and paper or transfer material may become plastic, and
the paper or transfer material with its design is now ready for application
to any surface intended on which it is desired to leave the design, which
transfer may then be accomplished by pressing the transfer material and
design and causing it to adhere firmly to such surface. After the lapse
of a few moments I wet the paper or transfer material with water by
means of a sponge or by other suitable means and draw it off, when the
design is found left on the surface, and when sufficiently dry may be
varnished or not as desired, or treated in any desired way. Sometimes
instead of using spirit as above described for rendering the transfer
material plastic I use heat for the purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said Manuel Vary in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 17th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MANUEL
VARY, of Scarborough, in the County of York, Decorator, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-first
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
3

page_text: grant unto me, the said Manuel Vary, Her special licence that I, the
said Manuel Vary, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Manuel Vary, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree 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 ORNAMENTING SURFACES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Manuel Vary, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Manuel Vary, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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:
The improvements consist in a system or method of transferring
designs, devices, or characters from or by means of paper, calico, linen,
wood, leather, or such like material to any surface required; and also in
cutting, stamping, or perforating such paper or material aforesaid for
convenience of application, and which perforations may also form and be
the design itself or form a part thereof when required.
The Invention may be performed as follows:-I take a piece of paper
or other suitable material as above and coat or prepare it with size made
in any convenient manner, and allow the same to dry, and on the surface
so prepared I print, draw, stencil, paint, or otherwise make any design,
device, or character in or of any color or colors or material required, or
I cut, stamp, or perforate out any design, device, or character; or I partly
print and so forth and partly cut and so forth the design or character
required. And the cutting, stamping, or perforating may be effected
either previously to the sizing or subsequently thereto, or subsequently to
the printing, or even subsequently to the next-described part of the
complete process. This is as follows:-I take finely pulverized pitch,
bitumen, resin, or any resinous gum (but preferably I use, resin), and
dust it or cast it evenly over the paper or transfer material, brushing off

page_text: the superfluous dust or powder, after which I expose the paper or
transfer material to an amount of heat just sufficient and no more than to
allow the gum to flow and lie evenly. After this is dry and when the
transfer is required to be made I apply or pass or cause to flow over the
design and the paper or transfer material alcohol, mythelated spirit, ether,
chloroform, or any spirit by means of which the design and paper or
transfer material may become plastic or tacky. The paper or transfer
material with its design is now ready for application to any surface on
which it is desired to leave the design. The transfer may then be
accomplished by pressing the transfer material and design while yet
plastic, and thus causing it to adhere firmly to such surface. After the
lapse of a few moments I wet the paper or transfer material with water
by means of a sponge or by other suitable means and draw it off, when
the design is found left on the surface, and when sufficiently dry may be
varnished or not as desired or treated in any desired way. I would
remark that for the purpose of heating or causing the gum to flow over
the surface of the transfer material as above described I place the
material on a tray in an oven and expose it to a gentle heat for a
few minutes, or I hold a heated iron in proximity to the surface so that
the radiation therefrom may produce the same effect. And sometimes,
instead of using spirit as above described for rendering the transfer
material plastic or tacky, I use heat for the purpose in manner similar to
the application of heat as above described for distributing the resin
fairly over the surface of the transfer material.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which it is to be and may be performed, I claim for the
purpose of ornamenting surfaces,―
Firstly. The production of designs, devices, or characters on to or
upon a transferring medium or material by sizing the surface of such
medium or material and then painting or otherwise producing the
design, devices, or characters on to such sized surface, and applying
pitch, bitumen, resin, or resinous gum, as herein set forth and
described.
And, secondly. I claim for the said purpose either in combination with
the printing, drawing, stencilling, painting, or other mode of producing
the design or device, or in substitution thereof, the producing it by
cutting, stamping, or perforating.

page_text: And, thirdly. I claim for the said purpose the application of a spirit or
suitable solvent to the pitch or gum used, and the transferring by
pressure the design or device on to the surface to be ornamented, and
the soaking off or removal of the transferring medium or material, as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Manuel Vary, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
MANUEL VARY. (L.s.)