United Kingdom. A well kept handwritten vellum document from the Office of the Commissioners of Patents dated March 3, 1860, measuring 742mm (w) x 515mm (l), interior document attached with red ribbon at base, creased along folds, outer document stained, very fine condition. Attached to the document by a thin braided rope is the Great Seal of the Realm, yellow wax, measures 161mm (w) x 24mm (d), the obverse features Queen Victoria seated on a horse with the surround inscribed VICTORIA DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REGINA FIDEI (Victoria, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Britians, Defender of the Faith), the reverse displays a seated Queen Victoria on her throne, flanked by two females on each side in low relief, directly above the towers of the castle in high relief, in a surrounding frame of roses and fauna, reverse is damaged around braid connection, and to areas of high relief, seal is in near very fine condition. The seal is cased in a round two-piece tin container with a dark red glazed exterior, base has a slit for the braid, heavily rusted, fine condition. Both Document and Seal contained in a hardshell wooden case with a black exterior leatherette, measuring 296mm (w) x 223mm (l) x 52mm (d), top impressed with the coat of arms of the United Kingdom and “WEILD & LIVSEY. OFFICES FOR PATENTS MANCHESTER.” below, interior bears green paper with ornate golden designs of stippling and leaves on thin lines, hinges and frontal locking latch in working condition, edges worn, leatherette peeling, “WEILD &” heavily worn, overall fine condition.
Footnote: Joseph Eccles, of Blackburn, in the county of Lancaster worked as a Cotton Manufacturer in the mid-1850s. He was granted his official patent on March 3, 1860 for his invention of “improvements in machinery for the manufacture of bricks, tiles, pipes and other articles formed of plastic materials.” More specifically, he created a wiper used in moulding contraptions to push clay in one direction and prevent it escaping at the end of the cylinder; a machine for pressing and dressing solid, hollow and perforated bricks, which has holes in the side to allow for air to escape creating a more desirable brick. This document was certified and sealed and stamped with a Fifty Pound Duty on February 17, 1863.