IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION JEWELLERY AND ORNAMENTS, AND IN CASES FOR JEWELLERY, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Smith, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION JEWELLERY AND ORNAMENTS, AND IN CASES FOR
JEWELLERY, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 28th February 1860, and dated the 19th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Smith, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th December 1859.
I, JOHN SMITH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION JEWELLERY AND ORNAMENTS, AND IN CASES FOR
JEWELLERY, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the production of articles of the above description
from a composition or plastic material not hitherto used for that purpose, and
in the process of preparing the said composition.
The composition consists of shell-lac, ebony dust, and charcoal for a black
composition. When a colored composition is required proper colouring matter
is added for that purpose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
the 18th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SMITH, of Birmingham, in in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our
LordOnethousandeight hundred and fifty-nine,in the twenty-third yearof Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Smith, Her special license that I, the said John Smith,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said
John Smith, 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-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION JEWELLERY AND ORNAMENTS, AND IN
CASES FOR JEWELLERY, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Smith, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer
tain 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 John Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement (that is to say):—
My Invention consists in the production of articles of composition jewellery
and ornaments, and cases for jewellery, watches, photographs, and other
similar purposes, from a composition or plastic material not hitherto used for
these purposes, and in the process of preparing the said composition.
The materials employed in the manufacture of black composition articles
are shell-lac, ebony dust, and charcoal. If coloured composition articles be
required, the charcoal must be omitted or reduced in quantity, and any
suitable colouring matter, such as powdered pigments, must be added. The
process of making the composition and subsequently manufacturing it into the

page_text: articles already named is as follows:-I take one pound of shell-lac and
dissolve it by heat on a flat iron slab; I then mix with it an equal quantity
by bulk of ebony dust, produced either by sawing, turning, pulverization, or
otherwise, after which I add the colouring matter; this for an intense black
composition would consist of three ounces of black asphaltum reduced to a fine
powder, three ounces of ivory black, or charcoal powder, or lamp black, the
ivory black being used for the purpose of hardening the composition, or if
hardness he not desirable, then I employ charcoal or lamp black. In making
a chocolate or brown tinted composition, I use with the shell-lac three ounces
of brown asphaltum in place of the black asphaltum, and about one ounce of
the ordinary rouge of commerce, more or less, according to the tint required.
To produce greens, blues, or other dark colours, I employ any suitable
colouring matter in proportions which must be governed by the nature of the
pigment employed and the depth of tint desired, but for light colours I use as
a principal colouring agent, for it imparts strength as well as color, the dust of
boxwood produced by any of the means aforesaid, to which, if still lighter tint
be required, a more intense white in the shape of pigment may be added.
The whole of these ingredients must be thoroughly amalgamated until the
mass shall appear homogeneous in its nature throughout if such property be
requisite, and an even colour be demanded. But if a streaked or veined
material is to be produced, this thorough amalgamation will be best avoided,
as the accidental embodying of the pigment or colouring may assist very much
in the manufacture of imitation marbles, onyx, malachite, or other stones; this
result may also be attained by twisting or rolling together masses of differently
coloured compositions. The whole of the ingredients having been well mixed
upon the slab and upon a heated stove, lumps of sufficient size are to be taken
and placed in dies of any description suitably designed for the form of the
articles intended to be produced, and each die with its follower being then
removed to a press, which press may be of the kind ordinarily used by the
manufacturers of horn buttons; the article is completed by pressure. The
composition readily cools by contact with the dies, so that the article in a
finished state may be almost immediately removed from the dies. In manu-
facturing double-sided articles, such as the cases alluded to in my title, each
shell or side is moulded separately, and afterwards suitably connected by
hinges or rivets, which, together with any locks or fastenings that may be
necessary for such cases, can be attached by any of the ordinary modes used
in wood or papier maché cases.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I claim the improvements in the manufacture of

page_text: composition jewellery and ornaments, and in cases for jewellery, watches,
photographs, and for other similar purposes, the composition consisting
substantially of the ingredients herein more particularly specified, but without
limiting myself to any exact proportions of such ingredients, as the same
will admit of much variation without materially affecting the nature of the
composition.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
JOHN SMITH. (L.S.)