IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas Holland, of Llanelly, in the
County of Carmarthen, Earthenware Manufacturer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF
99
Sealed the 11th September 1874, and dated the 15th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas
Holland at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 15th July 1874.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS HOLLAND, of Llanelly, in the County of
Carmarthen, Earthenware Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES, WHETHER PLAIN OR ORNAMENTAL," to be as
follows:-
-
My Invention primarily consists in the employment of a material or
materials known as white granite earthenware and cream colour earthen-

page_text: calcined flint, or similar earthenwares made or stained in various colours
and fired, the broken and damaged pieces being used in combination
with a small quantity of some fusible china stone and clay or mucilage,
sufficient only of the clay or mucilage being used to bind the materials
together, so as to bear pressure during firing and placing in the
kiln.
To make good white glazed bricks, but at the same time comparatively
common and cheap, according to my Invention, I take fired, ordinary,
or common and cheap earthenware, by preference broken pitchers in
biscuit state and unglazed, but the glazed may also be used, or the
glazed and unglazed may be used mixed together, made from, for
example, white clays and ground materials. These materials I reduce
to powder by pulverizing or grinding them in any suitable way and by
any suitable known machinery, such for example as by a machine
known as Carr's Patent Disintegrator, and by grinding in a wet or dry
state, or by other suitable means if preferred, but preferably in a
dry state. If the materials are not sufficiently pulverized or reduced by
the disintegrating machinery, I further reduce or grind them by other
machinery applicable to the purpose.
Having reduced this material to a fine powder I mix with it one or
other of the following materials, which must first also be reduced to a
fine powder: These materials are known as Cornwall china stone,
Jersey china stone, Middleton hill stone, and felspars; also alkalies,
ground glass, boracic acid, and its combinations, artificial and natural; I
prefer to use the most fusible china stone I can obtain. The proportion
in which I use the fusible material is of or about six per cent., but
this proportion must be varied according to the fusibility of the material
employed and the degree of heat to which the bricks or tiles are to be
submitted.
In addition to the fusible material I also add to the mixture a small
quantity of china or other clay, say, of or about five per cent., sufficient
to assist in binding the material; or I use a farinaceous or other mucilage,
but sufficient only of such clay or mucilage being used as to assist in
binding the materials together, so as to bear handling and pressure after
being placed in, kiln.
All the ingredients prepared in the manner before described are
thoroughly mixed and incorporated, with one another by any suitable.

page_text: means or machinery suitable for the purpose, and thus prepared the
material is ready to be used for the manufacture of white glazed bricks
and tiles of various shapes and classes. The bricks and tiles being made
in the ordinary way, and preferably under pressure, say, hydraulic
pressure, can be ornamented in any desired way as fancy or taste may
dictate by hand, stencil plate, or block printing, or other known process,
previous to their being glazed and fired; or they may be first glazed and
the ornamentation be applied afterwards, but previously to their being
fired, or the bricks and tiles may be fired as white glazed bricks and
tiles, and ornamented after being fired by any of the usual processes now
adopted for ornamenting pottery, for example, by printing, by transfer
from engravings, "bat" painting, ground laying, hand painting, chromo
colours in prepared patterns, and the like.
The glazing may be performed as follows:-First, by washing over or
by dipping the bricks either in a transparent or opaque glaze in a liquid.
state, or by dusting or powdering in a semi-dry state either the bricks
and tiles themselves, or the moulds, or by smearing in saggers or com-
partments of kilns with powder or with a wash composed of lead and
salt or other similar materials, or by salt glazing through the fires and
top of kilns or equivalent means.
To make better quality white glazed bricks and tiles according to my
Invention I substitute white granite earthenware or other earthenware
bodies stained with cobalt blue for the ordinary or common pitcher
earthenware before described, and I treat this white granite earthenware
in precisely the same manner as the material first described, and thus I
utilize the white granite and cream colour glazed and biscuit pitchers
chiefly sent away as refuse from earthenware manufactories.
My Invention further consists in the manufacture of bricks and tiles
I tako
having coloured or glazed surface or surfaces. For this purpose
stained "bodied" pitchers of any colours used in earthenware, china,
and parian, and I separate from one another the different coloured
materials. I then take material of one colour and grind and pulverize
it to a fine powder and prepare it for brick material in a precisely similar
manner to that before described of mixing it with china stone and some
china clay or mucilage. Now to use this material according to my
Invention for surfacing a brick or tile I place in the mould in which
the brick is moulded, and in that part thereof to which the surface is to
A 2

page_text: '
be applied, such quantity of the coloured prepared material as will be
sufficient to produce a surface of any desired thickness, the rest of the
mould being filled up with either of the materials before named, or with
other fired materials of common quality, and I employ hydraulic pressure
if preferred. When the bricks or tiles thus prepared are removed from
their moulds they have on one or more sides or ends such, surface or
surfaces as may have been placed in the moulds, and I thus produce
bricks or tiles with coloured surfaces ready to be glazed as before
described, forming at the same time a component part of the articles
themselves; or a coloured surface may be produced upon bricks and
tiles by simply washing or dipping the surface to be coloured in a
mixture composed of coloured body fired material, as before described,
ground up finely in a wet state, the same as when stained or coloured
clay is used, only that I employ fired stained body materials wholly, or
nearly so.
Sometimes I produce a varigated coloured surface by mixing several
coloured materials together, and treating the surfaces in the manner
.before described, either in a dry or wet state.
My Invention further consists in the manufacture and employment of
a cheap china white or whitish opaque glaze for bricks and tiles to be
applied previous to firing. This glaze substantially consists of Jersey
china stone, or of a stone of equivalent nature ground in a liquid state
in combination with from two-and-a-half to three per cent. of gypsum,
or best potters' plaster of Paris, to which may be added small quantities
of other materials for bleaching or other purposes; as, for example, oxide
of zinc about 2 per cent. The glaze is applied by dipping the bricks or
tiles in it or by washing them with the glaze itself, or such parts of the
bricks or tiles as are to be exposed to the action of the atmosphere after
being fired and used in buildings.
The next part of my Invention refers to the manufacture of inlaid or
mosaic tiles and ornamental bricks from white and coloured carthenware,
china, and parian, broken and damaged pieces reduced, pulverized, and
mixed in the manner before described with reference to bricks and tiles.
To manufacture a mosaic tile of simple pattern, such, for example, as
square, diamond, triangular, or other pattern, I take material of such
☐ colours as may be required to form the pattern to be produced, inside the
mould in which the tile is to be made or formed, I place a framework

page_text: made of tin, zinc, or other thin metal easily joined or cast thinly repre-
senting the design or pattern I wish to produce; then if the tile is to be
of the same pattern throughout its thickness, and consequently reversible,
I fill up each division or compartment with such colour as may be
required to make the pattern to the top or nearly so, or to such a depth
as I may desire to make the tile. The frame is then carefully withdrawn,
and the mould is then put under the press in the ordinary way and the
tile subsequently fired and glazed or smeared as described with reference
to the bricks.
To make a tile with a common material on one side I fill up the
spaces with the coloured material to the depth of say a quarter of an
inch. I then withdraw the framework and fill up the mould with
inferior material; or instead of making a frame of metal as aforesaid I
sometimes make a frame of some thin material, such as gelatine or
papier maché, which can be moulded thinly, and I lay it in the mould,
filling up or partially filling up the compartments as before with the
coloured material. The mould is then filled up with the inferior
mixture and pressed without removing the framework, which then forms
a component part of the tile or becomes burnt away in 'the firing of the
tile, as the case may be.
This part of my Invention is particularly applicable for forming
letters in mosaic by having a framework in the mould with the required
letter and inserting material of two different colours therein, and finish-
ing as before described. Or I use a mould with die cut in the bottom
thereof or having a loose bottom with die cut therein, and I fill the dio
with one or more colours, as desired, level and clean off the surplus from
flat surface, and then fill up the mould with groundwork colour and
finish as before, or I cut a pattern on the bottom of the mould, fill the
pattern with one coloured material, and level it, then fill up the mould
with groundwork colour, press, fire, and glaze as before.
In order to facilitate the filling of the moulds I sometimes use dry
powder without any mucilage to fill up the pattern and mould to the
depth required. For this method I pour in sufficient mucilage to
saturate the material after the mould has been filled; I then place on
the top of the material in the filled up moulds pieces of canvas or other
suitable material, with a perforated zinc or other metal cover fitting
inside; I then reverse the mould and place it with its contents on a
stand or pillar in such manner that the weight of the contents of the
3

page_text: mould and the mould itself presses the liquid or surplus mucilage out,
which drains from the mould through the canvas and metal plate, which
on being sufficiently drained are removed, and the brick or tile so
moulded is subjected to pressure in the ordinary way.
For ornamenting and lettering with a thin coating of the materials
specified I stamp the surface of the tile to be ornamented with the
inscription or device required in the following manner :--I place stencil
plate on the dry loose or hinged bottom surface of mould or on a thin
movable plate to. fit bottom of mould, and brush over the stencil plate
with linseed or other suitable oil or mucilage. I then remove the stencil
plate and dust over the adhering oil or mucilage finely ground or
powdered metallic colour or ground stained body of a colour different to
the intended groundwork of the body of the brick or tile, and I blow off
the surplus colour from the bottom of mould and proceed as previously
described, the pattern or lettering with pressure will then form part of
the brick or tile to be fired and glazed, as specified.
A glazing powder may be dusted over the bottom or ornamented
surface after the stencilling and removal from mould, and so give the
appearance of enameling to the letters and ornaments; or the bottom of
moulds are provided with embossed or raised letters or ornament of any
desired device, to use which the upper surfaces only are brushed over
with oil or mucilage, and dusted with colour, the surplus blown off; and
if it is desired to give these letters or ornaments a second colour then
pencil over the bevilled sides of said letters or ornaments with the
liquid required, dust with the second colour, and blow off the surplus;
when completed they will be recessed and have the appearance of
recessed ornaments in terra cotta, heretofore having only been coloured
by painting and not fired, or if any fired then by an extra enamelling
process, whereas by this part of my Invention I produce ornamental
recessed coloured surfaces, which are fired, and consequently as durable
as the other material of which the brick or tile is composed.
By my Invention I am able to manufacture ornamental bricks and
tiles having embossed surfaces chiefly from fired materials, the methods
described as to the moulds and dies being also applicable to bricks and
tiles of all descriptions made from prepared dry and powdered clays,
which are subjected to pressure in the moulds.
The next part of my Invention consists in the manufacture of fire-

page_text: bricks known as "dinas" or "silica" bricks to bear the highest heat
in steel and other furnaces without the admixture or use of any lime in
the making of these bricks as now. usually made, and customarily used
to an extent that renders the "dinas" bricks unfit for the high heat of
steel furnaces, and also for exposure to sudden draughts of cold air and
cooling quickly. To make "dinas" or "silica" bricks better adapted
for high heats and furnaces generally, that will also bear quick cooling
much better without lime and bear the setting and pressure in kiln
during firing, I take the ordinary "dinas" crushed material and mix
with it from ten to fifteen per cent. by weight of a highly silicious clay
recently discovered at Brynamman, in the County of Carmarthen, on the
mountain near the lime kilns, and connected with a deposit of fire sand.
This clay is mixed with water and worked up to a thin slip, then mixed
thoroughly with the crushed material and tempered or passed through
a pug mill in usual way to make it fit for the moulding. When the
bricks are moulded and dried in the ordinary way usually adopted in the.
making of "dinas" bricks, I find the proportions named of this
Brynamman clay will give sufficient adhesiveness to the materials for all
purposes of the manufacture, and when one of my dry mixture vitrifiable
dusting powders are used in the making during and after moulding when
in the wet state, the "dinas" bricks will have a strong skin or coating,
and have a good appearance although no lime used, which acts as a
bleacher to the "silica" brick material as well as binder. This
Brynamman clay found in veins and beds near the surface I also find
to be suitable in its varied states and qualities for use in mixture in the
manufacture of ordinary fire and other bricks and tiles, and fire-clay and
stoneware goods, fire cements, terra cotta goods, ordinary and white
earthenware, common china, and ceramic goods generally. I sometimes
also use in my various mixtures for making "dinas or "silica" and other
bricks without lime, and with or without any clay in the mixture, weak
solutions of muriatic acid, sulphuric acid, and of alum, dissolved either
separately or in combination to assist in binding the materials so as to
bear the setting and pressure in kiln well.
"
My Invention further consists in the combination and manufacture of
highly refractory dusting or coating powder for fire-bricks and fireproof
cements for varied purposes and furnaces of all kinds by the admixture
of felspar or one or other vitrifiable cement or cements, such as specified
for use in my grant of Letters. Patent No. 4216, dated 23rd December

page_text: 1878, along with emery or corundum in its various states as a base
reduced to a powder of the degree of fineness requisite for the purpose
and use intended, the vitrifiable cements being first reduced to powder,
and sufficient of it used so as to form a firmly binding material at the
heat desired, some of the vitrifiable cements being more easily fusible
than others, such as ground glass, &c. The materials when thoroughly
mixed are then used either as a dry powder for dusting over wet or fresh
moulded fire-bricks, or fresh spread cements in furnaces, or when the
bricks or cements are dry it is mixed up in water and used as a wash to
give a coating to the articles that will be firmer and more refractory
than the materials composing the brick or cement coated with it, or as
cement it may be spread when mixed up with water to the consistency of
mortar. I also sometimes use in mixture a small portion of either
powdered anthracite coal (or culm), coke, or charcoal.
When desired other materials can be mixed with the coating emery
mixture to improve the colour when fired, and also assist the adhering
of it and the using more easily of the mixture, such as a little china or
other clay added, and this material will also assist the plasticity. When
emery with vitrifiable cement for binding is used in a wetted state with
or without any of the carbon materials named, or any mucilage for
making in moulds or under pressure any article that it may be available
for use in the manufacturing of in varied shapes and sizes, and then
dried and fired in kiln, thus forming a firm and compact body that
can be used for varied purposes, such as emery wheels, knife and polishing
boards.
A further part of my Invention also consists in the smearing of or
vitrifying the surface of terra cotta goods and ornamental and other
bricks and tiles with a slight protective coating or glazing with one
firing, and so as not to alter the colour or general appearance of the
goods materially, and be more regular from the kiln after firing, so that
the pieces from the easiest parts of the kiln shall bear exposure to the
weather and stand wear and tear as well as from the harder fired parts
through not being porous, and will be particularly applicable for the
exposed portions of architectural terra cotta. This may be effected when
up to the requisite heat in firing by slight salt glazing through the fires
or top of kiln in usual way for salt glazed goods, but not to the same
extent or to alter the colour, only about half the time and of the usual
quantity of salt being requisite to give the slight smear or vitrified skin

page_text: required as a protection from action of the atmosphere and smoke when
exposed for any length of time, but preferably I take a vitrifiable cement,
say, very finely ground glass or a glaze mixture thoroughly suspended
in water; and when the articles are dry and about to be placed in kiln I
either dip the article entirely or the face or faces to be exposed to the
weather in the thin liquid, or cause a fine spray from same liquid, say,
in a partially enclosed box, and hold or place the article under the spray
for a few moments to get a slight damping or coating of the liquid, then
place in kiln for drying and firing in usual way.
Another part of my Invention consists in an improved method of salt
glazing clay goods in kilns, such as generally used for the purpose on
the down draught principle, with central chimney or other suitable
style, whereby when the kiln is up to the full heat for glazing; instead
of checking or deadening the fires by throwing salt on all the fires and
repeating it, I make a fire in a movable grate specially placed outside the
kiln door on which to decompose the salt in suitable receptacle or
movable pot, and carry the resulting vapours of chlorine and sodium
through a pipe or pipes attached or previously placed over and carried
diagonally through the door of and near to top of kiln towards the
central chimney, and the vapour, with or without any steam generated
from water, and passed through the said pipe in combination with other
vapours, which will then descend and spread through the kiln as usual,
the glazing being continued through the pipe till by trials the goods are
proved to be sufficiently glazed throughout, and the fires kept burning
brightly during the time will assist the process, and there will be less
dust passing through the kiln.
Also I find that by laying a 3 or 4 inch carthenware socket pipe from
the door between or below the flues of kiln to the centre, and by a bend
carrying this pipe about 4 feet up the central chimney, then by taking
away the outer plug when commencing the glazing process, and admitting
air through this pipe, the draught of the kiln is considerably quickened
by the rush of air through the hot pipe in the chimney, and assists the
glazing process in a shorter time, and renders it brighter.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Thomas Holland in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS HOLLAND, of Llanelly, in the County of Carmarthen, Earthen-
ware Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty..
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her. heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Thomas Holland, Her
special licence that I, the said William Thomas Holland, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Thomas Holland, 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 AND CONNECTED WITH THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES, WHETHER PLAIN OR ORNAMENTAL," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Thomas Holland,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Thomas Holland, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention primarily consists in the employment of a material or
materials known as white granite earthenware and cream colour
earthenware, or other earthenwares made from white clays and ground
calcined flint, or similar earthenwares made or stained in various colours
and fired, the broken and damaged pieces being used in combination with

page_text: a small quantity of some fusible china stone and clay or mucilage,
sufficient only of the clay or mucilage being used to bind the materials
together so as to bear pressure during firing and placing in the kiln.
To make good white glazed bricks, but at the same time comparatively
common and cheap, according to my Invention I take fired, ordinary, or
common and cheap earthenware, by preference broken pitchers in
biscuit state and unglazed, but the glazed may also be used; or the
glazed and unglazed may be used mixed together, made from, for
example, white clays and ground materials. These materials I reduce to
powder by pulverizing or grinding them in any suitable way and by
any suitable know machinery, such for example, as by a machino
known as Carr's Patent Disintegrator, and by grinding in a wet or dry
state, or by other suitable means if preferred, but preferably in a dry state;
if the materials are not sufficiently pulverized or reduced by the
disintegrating machinery, I further reduce or grind it by other
machinery applicable to the purpose.
Having reduced this material to a fine powder, I mix with it one or
other of the following materials which must first also be reduced to a
fine powder. These materials are known as Cornwall china stone, Jersey
china stone, Middleton hill stone, and felspars also alkalies, ground glass,
boracic acid, and it combinations artificial and natural; I prefer to use
the most fusible china stone I can obtain. The proportion in which I
use the fusible material is of or about six per cent., but this proportion
must be varied according to the fusibility of the material employed
and the degree of heat to which the bricks or tiles are to be submitted.
In addition to the fusible material I also add to the mixture a small
quantity of china or other clay, say of or about five per cent., sufficient
to assist in binding the material; or I use a farinaceous or other mucilage,
but sufficient only of such clay or mucilage being used as to assist in
binding the materials together, so as to bear handling and pressure
after being placed in kiln.
All the ingredients prepared in the manner before described are
thoroughly mixed and incorporated with one another by any suitable
means or machinery suitable for the purpose, and thus prepared the
material is ready to be used for the manufacture of white glazed bricks
and tiles of various shapes and classes. The bricks and tiles being
made in the ordinary way, and preferably under pressure, say hydraulic

page_text: pressure, can be ornamented in any desired way as fancy or taste may
dictate, by hand, stencil plate, or block printing, or other known process,
previous to their being glazed and fired, or they may be first glazed and
the ornamentation be applied afterwards but previously to their being
fired; or the bricks and tiles may be fired as white glazed bricks and
tiles, and ornamented after being fired by any of the usual processes
now adopted for ornamenting pottery, for example, by printing, by
transfer from engravings, bat printing, ground laying, hand painting,
chromo colours in prepared patterns and the like.
The glazing may be performed as follows:-First, by washing over or
by dipping the bricks either in a transparent or opaque glaze in a liquid
state, or by dusting or powdering in a semi-dry state, either the bricks
and tiles themselves or the moulds, or by smearing in saggers or com-
partments of kilns with powder or with a wash composed of lead and
salt, or other similar materials, or by salt glazing through the fires and
top of kilns or equivalent means.
To make better quality white glazed bricks and tiles according to my
Invention, I substitute white granite earthenware or other earthenware
bodies stained with cobalt blue, for the ordinary or common pitcher.
earthenware before described, and I treat this white granite earthenware
in precisely the same manner as the material first described, and thus I
utilize the white granite and cream colour glazed and biscuit pitchers,
chiefly sent away as refuse from earthenware manufactories.
My Invention further consists in the manufacture of bricks and tiles
having coloured or glazed surface or surfaces; for this purpose I take
stained "bodied" pitchers of any colours used in earthenware, china,
and parian, and I separate from one another the different coloured
materials; I then take material of one colour and grind and pulverize
it to a fine powder, and prepare it for brick material in a precisely
similar manner to that before described of mixing it with china stone,
and some china clay or mucilage. Now to use this material according
to my Invention for surfacing a brick or tile, I place in the mould in
which the brick is moulded, and in that part thereof to which the sur-
face is to be applied, such quantity of the coloured prepared material as
will be sufficient to produce a surface of any desired thickness, the rest a
of the mould being filled up with either of the materials before named
or with other fired materials of common quality, and I employ hydraulic

page_text: pressure, if preferred; when the bricks or tiles thus prepared are removed
from their moulds, they have on one or more sides or ends such surfaco
or surfaces as may have been placed in the moulds, and I thus produce
bricks or tiles with coloured surfaces ready to be glazed, as before
described, forming at the same time a component part of the articles
themselves; or a coloured surface may be produced upon bricks and
tiles by simply washing or dipping the surface to be coloured in a
mixture composed of coloured body fired material, as before described,
ground up finely in a wet state, the same as when stained or coloured
clay is used, only that I emply fired stained body materials, wholly or
nearly so..
Sometimes I produce a varigated coloured surface by mixing several
coloured materials together, and treating the surfaces in the manner
before described either in a dry or wet state.
My Invention further consists in the manufacture and employment of
a cheap china white or whitish opaque glaze for bricks and tiles, to be
applied previous to firing. This glazo substantially consists of Jersey
china stone, or of a stone of equivalent nature, ground in a liquid state in
combination with from two-and-a-half to three per cent. of gypsum or best
potters' plaster of Paris, to which may be added small quantities of
other materials for bleaching or other purposes, as for example, oxide of
zinc about two per cent. The glaze is applied by dipping the bricks or
tiles in it or by washing them with the glaze itself, or such parts of the
bricks or tiles as are to be exposed to the action of the atmosphere after
being fired and used in buildings.
The next part of my Invention refers to the manufacture of inlaid or
mosaic tiles and ornamental bricks from white and coloured earthen-
ware, china, and parian, broken and damaged pieces, reduced, pulverized,
and mixed in the manner before described, with reference to bricks and
tiles.
To manufacture a mosaic tile of simple pattern, such for example, as
square, diamond, triangular, or other pattern, I take material of such
colours as may be required to form the pattern to be produced; inside
the mould in which the tile is to be made or formed I place a frame-
work made of tin, zinc, or other thin metal easily joined or cast thinly,
representing the design or pattern I wish to produce; then if the tile is
to be of the same pattern throughout its thickness, and consequently

page_text: reversible, I fill up each division or compartment with such colour as
may. be required to make the pattern to the top or nearly so, or to such
a depth as I may desire to make the tile; the frame is then carefully
withdrawn and the mould is then put under the press in the ordinary
way, and the tile subsequently fired and glazed or smeared, as described,
with reference to the bricks.
To make a tile with a common material on one side, I fill up the
spaces with the coloured material to the depth of, say a quarter of an
inch; I then withdraw the framework and fill up the mould with
inferior material; or instead of making a frame of metal as aforesaid
I sometimes make a frame of some thin material, such as gelatine or
papier maché, which can be moulded thinly, and. I lay it in the mould,
filling up or partially filling up the compartments as before with the
coloured material, the mould is then filled up with the inferior mixture
and pressed without removing the framework, which then forms a com-
ponent part of the tile, or becomes burnt away in the firing of the tile,
as the case may be.
This part of my Invention is particularly applicable for forming
letters in mosaic by having a framework in the mould with the
required letter, and inserting material of two different colours therein,
and finishing as before described. Or I use a mould with die cut
in the bottom thereof, or having a loose bottom with die cut therein,
and I fill the die with one or more colours, as desired, level and clean
off the surplus from flat surface, and then fill up the mould with ground
work colour and finish as before; or I cut a pattern on the bottom of
the mould, fill the pattern with one coloured material and level it, then
fill up the mould with groundwork colour, press, fire, and glaze as
before.
In order to facilitate the filling of the moulds I sometimes use dry
powder without any mucilage to fill up the pattern and mould to the
depth required. For this method I pour in sufficient mucilage to
saturate the material after the mould has been filled; I then place
on the top of the material in the filled up moulds pieces of canvas
or other suitable material, with a perforated zinc or other metal cover
fitting inside; I then reverse the mould and place it with its contents
on a stand or pillar in such manner that the weight of the contents
of the mould, and the mould itself, presses the liquid or surplus

page_text: mucilage out, which drains from the mould through the canvas and
metal plate, which on being sufficiently drained are removed, and
the brick or tile so moulded is subjected to pressure in the ordinary
way.
For ornamenting and lettering with a thin coating of the materials
specified, I. stamp the surface of the tile to be ornamented with the
inscription or device required in the following manner:-I place stencil
plate on the dry loose or hinged bottom surface of mould, or on a
thin movable plate to fit bottom of mould, and brush over the stencil
plate with linseed or other suitable oil or mucilage; I then remove
the stencil plate and dust over the adhering oil or mucilage finely.
ground or powdered metallic colour, or ground stained body of a colour
different to the intended groundwork of the body of the brick or
tile, and I blow off the surplus colour from the bottom of mould and
proceed as previously described; the pattern or lettering with pressure
will then form part of the brick or tile to be fired and glazed, as
specified.
A glazing powder may be dusted over the bottom or ornamented
surface after the stencilling and removal from mould, and so give
the appearance of enamelling to the letters and ornaments; or the
bottom of moulds are provided with embossed or raised letters or
ornament of any desired device, to use which the upper surfaces only
are brushed over with oil or mucilage, and dusted with colour, the
surplus blown off, and if it is desired to give these letters or orna-
ments a second colour, then pencil over the bevilled sides of said letters
or ornaments with the liquid required, dust with the second colour,
and blow off the surplus, when completed they will be recessed and
have the appearance of recessed ornaments in terra cotta, heretofore
having only been coloured by painting, and not fired, or if any fired
then by an extra enamelling process, whereas by this part of my
Invention I produce ornamental recessed coloured surfaces which are
fired, and consequently as durable as the other material of which the
brick or tile is composed.
By my Invention I am able to manufacture ornamental bricks and
tiles having embossed surfaces, chiefly from fired materials, the methods.
described as to the moulds and dies being also applicable to bricks and
tiles of all descriptions made from prepared dry and powdered clays
which are subjected to pressure in the moulds.

page_text: The next part of my Invention consists in the manufacture of fire-
bricks known as
"
" dinas or "silica" bricks, to bear the highest heat in
steel and other furnaces without the admixture or use of any lime in the
making of these bricks as now usually made, and customarily used to an
extent that renders the "dinas" bricks unfit for the high heat of steel
furnaces, and also for exposure to sudden draughts of cold air and cooling
quickly; to make "dinas" or "silica" bricks better adapted for high
heats and furnaces generally that will also bear quick cooling much
better without lime, and bear the setting and pressure in kiln during
firing, I take of ordinary "dinas" crushed material, and mix with it
from ten to fifteen per cent. by weight of a highly silicious clay recently
discovered at Brynamman, in the County of Carmarthen, on the moun-
tain near the limekilns, and connected with a deposit of fire-sand. This
clay is mixed with water and worked up to a thin slip, then mixed
thoroughly with the crushed material, and tempered or passed through a
pug mill in usual way to make it fit for the moulding, when the bricks
are moulded and dried in the ordinary way usually adopted in the
making of "dinas" bricks. I find the proportion named of this
Brynamman clay will give sufficient adhesiveness to the materials for
all purposes of the manufacture; and when one of my dry mixture
vitrifiable dusting powders are used in the making, during and after
moulding when in the wet state, the "dinas" bricks will have a strong
skin or coating, and have a good appearance although no lime used
which acts as a bleacher to the "silica" brick material as well as binder.
This Brynamman clay, found in veins and beds near the surface, I also
find to be suitable in its varied states and qualities for use in mixture in
the manufacture of ordinary fire and other bricks and tiles, and fire-clay
and stoneware goods, fire cements, terra cotta goods, ordinary and white
earthenware, common china, and ceramic goods generally. I some-
times also use in my various mixtures for making " dinas
<<
or silica,"
and other bricks made according to the processes patented by myself
without lime, and with or without any clay in the mixture, weak
solutions of muriatic acid, sulphuric acid, and of alum dissolved, either
separately or in combination, to assist in binding the materials so as to
bear the setting and pressure in kiln well.
"
My Invention further consists in the combination and manufacture of
highly refractory dusting or coating powder for fire-bricks and fire-.
proof cements for varied purposes and furnaces of all kinds by the.

page_text: admixture of felspar or one or other vitrifiable cement or cements such
as specified for use in my grant of Letters Patent, No. 4216, dated
23rd December, 1873, along with emery or corundum in its various
states as a base, reduced to a powder of the degree of fineness requisite
for the purpose and use intended, the vitrifiable cements being first
reduced to powder and sufficient of it used so as to form a firmly binding
material at the heat desired, some of the vitrifiable cements being more
easily fusible than others, such as ground glass, &c. The materials
when thoroughly mixed are then used either as a dry powder for dusting
over wet or fresh moulded fire-bricks or fresh spread cements in furnaces;
or when the bricks or cements are dry it is mixed up in water and used
as a wash to give a coating to the articles that will be firmer and more
refractory than the materials composing the brick or cement coated with
it; or as cement it may be spread when mixed up with water to the con-
sistency of mortar. I also sometimes use in mixture a small portion of
either powdered anthracite coal or culm, coke, or charcoal.
When desired other materials can be mixed with the coating emery
mixture to improve the colour when fired, and also assist the adhering of
it and the using more easily of the mixture, such as a little china or
other clay added, and this material will also assist the plasticity when
emery with vitrifiable cement for binding is used in a wetted state, with
or without any of the carbon materials named, or any mucilage, for
making in moulds or under pressure any article that it may be available
for use in the manufacturing of in varied shapes and sizes, and then
dried and fired in kiln, thus forming a firm and compact body that can
be used for varied purposes, such as emery wheels, knife and polishing.
boards, &c.
A further part of my Invention also consists in the smearing of or
vitrifying the surface of terra cotta goods, and ornamental and other
bricks and tiles, with a slight protective coating or glazing with one
firing, and so as not to alter the colour or general appearance of the
goods materially, and be more regular from the kiln after firing, so that
the pieces from the easiest parts of the kiln shall bear exposure to the
weather and stand wear and tear as well as from the harder fired parts,"
through not being porous, and will be particularly applicable for the
exposed portions of architectural terra cotta. This may be effected.
when up to the requisite heat in firing by slight salt glazing through the
fires or top of kiln in usual way for salt glazed goods, but not to the:
R

page_text: same extent or to alter the colour, only about half the time and of the
usual quantity of salt being requisite to give the slight smear or vitrified
skin required as a protection from action of the atmosphere and smoke
when exposed for any length of time, but preferably I take a vitrifiable
cement, say very finely ground glass or a glaze mixture thoroughly
suspended in water, and when the articles are dry and about to be placed'
in kiln I either dip the article entirely or the face or faces to be exposed
to the weather in the thin liquid, or cause a fine spray from same liquid,
say in a partially enclosed box, and hold or place the article under the
spray for a few moments to get a slight damping or coating of the
liquid, then place in kiln for drying and firing in usual way.
Another part of my Invention consists in an improved method of salt
glazing clay goods in kilns, such as generally used for the purpose on
the down draught principle with central chimney or other suitable style,
whereby when kiln is up to the full heat for glazing instead of checking
or deadening the fires by throwing salt on all the fires, and repeating it, I
make a fire in a moveable grate specially placed outside the kiln door, on
which to decompose the salt in suitable receptacle or moveable pot, and
carry the resulting vapours of chlorine and sodium through a pipe or
pipes attached or previously placed over and carried diagonally through
the door of and near the top of kiln towards the central chimney, and
the vapour with or without any steam generated from water and
passed through the said pipe in combination with other vapours which
will then descend and spread through the kiln as usual, the glazing
being continued through the pipe till by trials the goods are proved
to be sufficiently glazed throughout; and the fires kept burning brightly
during the time will assist the process, and there will be less dust
passing through the kiln.
Also I find that by laying a 3 or 4 inch earthenware socket pipe.
from the door between or below the flues of kiln to the centre, and by
a bend carrying this pipe about 4 feet up the central chimney, then by
taking away the outer plug when commencing the glazing process
and admitting air through this pipe, the draught of the kiln is con-
siderably quickened by the rush of air through the hot pipe in the
chimney, and assists the glazing process in a shorter time and renders it
brighter.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the

page_text: First. The employment and manufacture of fired white granite
earthenware, or fired cream coloured earthenware, or equivalent earthen-
wares, glazed or unglazed, in combination with some fusible china stone
or other vitrifiable cements (or without any cement), and small portion
of clay or mucilage, substantially in manner and for the purposes herein-
before described.
Second. The glazing of bricks and tiles with a transparent or opaque
glaze, as for articles made chiefly from previously fired materials, sub-
stantially in the manner and by the means herein-before described.
.
Third. The employment and manufacture of all kinds of bricks, tiles,
or articles made of same or similar materials from fired pulverised
earthenware, china, and parian materials, in combination or not with
fusible china stone or other vitrifiable cement and a little clay or
mucilage, the said bricks and tiles and objects when so made or com-
bined as aforesaid being fired a second time and containing more than
fifty per cent. of previously fired material, substantially in manner
described.
Fourth. The manufacture and employment of bricks and tiles made,
from previously fired materials as aforesaid, having coloured or glazed
surfaces, substantially in the manner herein-before described.
Fifth. The manufacture and employment of a china white, or of a
whitish opaque glaze for bricks and tiles, to be applied thereto previous.
to firing, whether made from clay or made from fired materials, sub-
stantially in the manner herein-before described, but I do not confine.
myself to method of applying or to exact proportions indicated, as it
may be varied to suit the articles or materials glazed.
Sixth. The manufacture and employment of inlaid or mosaic tiles and
ornamental bricks, or terra cotta work with letters, patterns, embossed,
recessed, coloured and ornamented surfaces, and the like, substantially
in the manner or manners herein-before described, together with any
mere modification thereof, as wholly applied to such goods made almost
wholly from previously fired materials, and partially to some of the
processes not previously used in the manufacture from pulverized clay
materials. Several of the processes necessarily described for indicating
5 the system of employment of pulverized fired materials I find are not
new as applied to clay materials, and to such I make no claim.

page_text: Seventh. The employment of Brynamman clay or clays in combina-
tion with the ordinary " dinas " or other fire-brick material, and with or
without 'the addition of muriatic acid, sulphuric acid, and of alum solu-
tions, either together or separately for the manufacture of "dinas
" or
"silica "fire-bricks, or other "dinas" or fire-clay goods, all substantially
as herein-before described.
"
Eighth. The employment of Brynamman clay or clays in combination
with such materials as are used to produce tiles, fire cements, stoneware,
and terra cotta goods, ordinary and white earthenware, common china.
and ceramic goods generally, all substantially as herein-before described.
Ninth. The manufacture and employment of highly refractory dusting
or coating powder, in and by the employment of felspar or other vitri-
fiable cement in combination with emery or "corundum," the material
being used either in a dry or semi-dry, or wet or partially wet state, and
with or without the addition thereto of other materials, substantially in
manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
Tenth. The smearing the surface of terra cotta goods and ornamental.
and other bricks and tiles, so as to render their surfaces more durable
and cleaner than heretofore, substantially in the manner described.
Eleventh. The method of glazing goods in kilns in and by the
employment of the vapours of chlorine and sodium alone, or in com-
bination with other vapours or any equivalent glazing vapour alone,
and in combination or in connection with a pipe or pipes so fixed
as to quicken the draft of the kiln, substantially in manner and for the
purposes described, together with any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas Holland, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.