A COMPOUND PASTE AND LIQUID TO BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVING AND COLOURING LACE AND NET, AND ALL OTHER MANUFACTURED ARTICLES MADE OF FLAX, COTTON, WOOL, SILK, OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE SUBSTANCE, WHETHER THE FABRIC OF THE SAME BE COMPOSED OF HOLES OR INTERSTICES, OR OF OPEN OR CLOSE WORK, OR OTHERWISE, AND TO BE APPLIED IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING UP, DRESSING OR COLOURING THE SAME
Year: 1823

page_text: WICKHAM'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WICKHAM, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, Lace
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did by petition humbly represent to His most Excellent
Majesty King George the Fourth, that I had invented "A COMPOUND PASTE
AND LIQUID TO BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVING AND COLOURING LACE AND
NET, AND ALL OTHER MANUFACTURED ARTICLES MADE OF FLAX, COTTON, WOOL, SILK,
OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE SUBSTANCE, WHETHER THE FABRIC OF THE SAME
BE COMPOSED OF HOLES OR INTERSTICES, OR OF OPEN OR CLOSE WORK, OR OTHERWISE,
AND TO BE APPLIED IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING UP, DRESSING OR COLOURING THE SAME;
and therefore His Majesty was pleased to issue His Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth
day of March, in the fourth year of His reign, which Letters Patent do give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Wickham, my exors, admors, and assigns,
His said Majesty's especial licence that I, the said Thomas Wickham, my
exors, admors, and. assigns, and every of them, by myself and themselves, or
by my and their deputy or deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Wickham, my exors, admors, or assigns, shall at any time
agree with, and no others, shall and lawfully may make, use, exercise, and
vend my said Invention within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and to have and enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising by.

page_text: reason of the said Invention during the term of fourteen years from the date of
the said Letters Patent, by which His Majesty also requires and strictly
commands all is subjects whatsoever, within England, Wales, and Berwick-
upon-Tweed, that neither they nor any of them, during the continuance of
the said term of fourteen years, either directly or indirectly, do make, use,
or put in practice the said Invention, or any part of the same, nor in anywise
counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same. The said Letters Patent also
contain a proviso, obliging me, the said Thomas Wickham, to particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within two calendar months next after the date of the said Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in fulfilment of the said proviso, I, the said Thomas
Wickham, have éxecuted this instrument, by which I do declare that the nature
and the method of making my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be made, are particularly described and ascertained in the following
description thereof, that is to say:-
The substance or thing invented by me is a paste or liquid, which I make
in the following manner :-I take four pounds of the best ground rice, eight
ounces of white sugar candy powdered, eight ounces of arrow root powder, and
two ounces of powdered spermacitie, mix them together in four gallons of
water, and boil it for half an hour, keeping it in a state of agitation by con-
tinually stirring it, and then it is fit for use.
It may be used when cold, but I always use it in a hot state. If it any time
becomes cold I add a small quantity of water to it and boil it again for use.
The uses to which this paste or liquid may be applied are many.
1st. In dressing and getting up lace and net, and all other manufactured
articles made of flax, cotton, wool, silk, or any other animal or vegetable substance,
whether the fabric of the same be composed of holes, or interstices, or of open
or close work, or otherwise, when the manufactured articles of fabric are to be
dressed or got up into a state resembling that which is commonly called
"French foundation," I proceed in the following manner :-I take the fabric
and damp it, and then place it on the stretching frame of the machine or
instrument herein-after described, and stretch it to the required width; I then
place the roller frame with the trough or vessel full of the liquid upon the
stretching frame, with the wheels in the grooves on each side of that frame, and
pass the roller frame down the fabric, taking care that the trough or vessel be

page_text: always supplied with the liquid, that it may always deposit a regular quantity
of the paste or liquid upon the fabric in its progress over it. The operation of
the roller is to convey the paste or liquid to and bear and press it upon the
fabric in its progress, as before described. Such operation may be repeated by
passing the roller frame forwards and backwards on the stretching frame, the
roller bearing upon the fabric until the same is become of sufficient substance
for the desired use. I find that five thicknesses or coats are sufficient for the
fabrics commonly called "French foundation." At all times the preceding
dressing must have become dry before any subsequent application is made.
When the board is used on the stretching frame, and the roller is a straight
one, the manner of dressing and getting up the fabric into that state commonly
called "French foundation" is exactly the same as if the board was not used
and the roller was a convex one, excepting as to the mere putting on, lowering,
and removing the board.
2nd. When it is intended to be used in dressing and getting up any manu-
factured article or fabric which is not intended to be got up into a state ro-
sembling that which is commonly called "French foundation," then I take the
paste or liquid before described and mix it with any quantity of boiling water
as will make it of the consistence which I may require; I dip the fabric into
the liquid, take it out and slightly press it in my hands, and then stretch it
and leave it on the frame until it is perfectly dry.
3rd. This paste or liquid may be used at the same time that it is intended to
colour the manufactured article or fabric; if the colour to be applied be that of
a purple with the intermediate, shades to and including blue, or that of crimson
with the intermediate shades to and including pink, or of black, without either
damaging the colouring ingredients or causing any injury to itself if the
colouring ingredients be added to and well mixed with the paste or liquid
when it has been boiled up for use in a quantity of water which shall make it
of any required consistency.
The instruments or machines which I use are the following:-
1st. I boil the ingredients, when mixed as before described, in four gallons
of water, in a clean vessel, made of the best block tin, suspended within an
iron boiler, the latter vessel being subjected to the immediate action and heat
of the fire, and filled with water surrounding the inner vessel, which will
acquire a temperature of sufficient heat to boil the ingredients, and I keep the
contents of the inner vessel in a continual state of agitation by regularly
stirring it with a wooden ladle.
2nd. The instrument or machine with which I dress and get up the fabrics
into that state which is commonly called "French foundation" I make in the

page_text: following manner :-Figure I., in the annexed Drawing, represents the apparatus
as in operation, which consists of a stand formed by a series of cross legs a, a, a, a,
movable upon joint pins or bolts b, b, which may be set to any required width
by the props e, e.
On the top of this stand the stretching frame d, d, of which
Figure II. is a transverse section, is placed, which is intended to hold the
fabric, by means of a number of tenter pins set round the inner sido of that
frame, and when the fabric is thus expanded to its proper width the roller
frame or carriage e (of which Figure III., Figure IV., Figure V., and Figure VI.
are the several parts,) is placed with its wheels on the outer grooves of the
stretching frame, and in that situation it is made to move forwards and back-
wards along the frame d, d, thereby causing the roller to revolve and convey a
quantity of the paste or liquid from the trough g, and to deposit and press it
upon the fabric. The legs a, a, of the stand are contrived to suit every width
of the stretching frame that may be required, by means of a series of cor-
responding holes in each leg, through any of which the joint pins or bolts b
are to be introduced. In employing this apparatus, the legs a are first to be
opened to any required width, and fixed in that situation by means of the
props c, the lower ends of which fall into the notches on the front of the legs;
then the side rails (a section of which is shewn at Figure II.) are placed on the
top of these legs, resting in the notches in the tops of the legs, and may be
secured to the respective legs by finger screws h, h; the edges of the fabric are
then put over the tenter pins, and when the end sliding rails are attached, the
prop c being shifted, the frame is stretched out to its required width. The
fabric is now ready to be operated upon by the roller f, the particular operation
of which will be seen by the following explanation:-Figure III. is a front
view of the roller, which is made of block tin, with its carriage, and the
trough, or vessel; Figure IV. is the carriage and roller without the trough;
Figure V. is the trough removed from the carriage; and Figure VI. is a
scction, cut across the carriage, roller, and trough. The carriage e being
placed upon the outer grooves of the stretching frame d, as above described,
and the paste or liquid being introduced into the trough as it moves along
the grooves of the stretching frame, the roller f taking a small quantity of
the paste or liquid upon its circumference from the under part of the trough,
of which it forms the base or bottom, deposits and presses it upon the fabric.
In order to keep the stretching frame expanded, the cross rails i, i, are
made fast to the side rails d, d, by screws and clamps; the stretching frame
may then be removed, by unscrewing the finger screws h, and set apart until
the fabric becomes dry. When I use a board under the fabric I then employ
a straight roller in place off, but I do not consider it so eligible as the méthod

page_text: above described. It, however, then is necessary to place wedges or buttons
under the board, so as to raise it up upon the edges of the side rails k,
Figure II., and when the operation of dressing the fabric in this manner has
been performed, the wedges or buttons must be turned aside for the purpose of
allowing the board to fall from the fabric. The roller and trough I make of
block tin or brass; every other part of the machine I make of wood, except
the pins and the screws. The vessels above described as being used by me in
boiling the ingredients, of which my Invention is made, are convenient for that
purpose; but I do not claim them as new, or the exclusive use of them in any
The instrument, apparatus, or combination of machinery above
described as consisting of the stand, stretching frame, and roller frame, and also
that with the board and straight roller, are conveniently adapted for the purposes
of the said Invention, and the more beneficial use of it; but I do not claim the
several parts of that instrument, apparatus, or combination of machinery as
new, nor the exclusive use of it in its combined state, except in connection
with and in aid of the application of my said Invention to the purposes and for
the uses above described in this Specification. I do not claim the exclusive
use of rice, or white sugar candy, or arrow root powder, or powdered sper-
macitie, or the several combinations of them, except so far as they produce the
paste or liquid above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wickham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and truanter
THOMAS WICKHAM. (L.s.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1828, the aforesaid Thomas Wickham came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.