Registered Designs, 1839-1991: A workshop at the National Archives, 5th March

A practical training session at the National Archives offers a look at design copyright records.

Lead image: BT 43/187 range of design numbers from 3496 to 3541: Twelve textile designs registered by Thomson Brothers and Sons in 1843. All images taken from the National Archives, Collection BT/43 Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Office and predecessor: Ornamental Design Act 1842 Representations

BT 42/1 design number 246: A design for a purse registered by John Rodgers & Sons in 1840

Copyright is a subject dear to the heart of the Stationers’ Company, so Stationers may be interested in a forthcoming Practical Archival Skills Training Session at the National Archives. Registered Designs, 1839-1991 is a one-day workshop teaching the skills and methodologies for working with historical design copyright records (or ‘registered designs’) at The National Archives. Under scrutiny will be a collection which was formed adjacent to the copyright registers administered at Stationers’ Hall, and charts the mapping of visual culture onto intellectual property.

 BT 43/17 design number 185393:  A design for a Turkish Fountain registered by Eugene Rimmel in 1865

This unique and vast collection contains the details and visual or material representations of almost 3 million designs registered for copyright protection between 1839 and 1991. The expansive range of design types and styles that are represented in the collection offer considerable opportunities for the research of material and visual culture in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as topics within the fields of design, architectural, technology, economic, business and social history. The representations of designs themselves are depicted through a range of media, including photographs, drawings and material samples (e.g. textiles and wallpapers).

BT 43/400 design number 288207:  Design for a textile, ‘Beatrice’, registered by M Friedeberg and Company in 1875

Workshop participants will learn about the contents of the collection through examples of objects, materials and styles that are represented, as well as the background to the registration system that created these records and its function in protecting design copyright. Participants also find out about the types of businesses and individuals that used the registration system and how design copyright was used as a commercial tool to protect original design in the manufacturing industries.

BT 43/55 design number 276943: A design for a photo frame registered by G Betjemann & Sons in 1873

Specialists from the National Archive will guide participants through the cataloguing structure of the records and explain how best to search and browse the online catalogue to identify research resources,, and how to incorporate these records into research.