Asser & Sherwin, London
History
The Asser and Sherwin families had established businesses in the London area by the mid 19th century. Nathanial Asser (c1798-1850) worked as a tailor and draper whereas Thomas Sherwin (1776-1863), the head of the Sherwin family, manufactured backgammon, chess and Parcheesi boards which were sold to the growing middle class. The two families were joined in 1824 by the marriage of Nathaniel to Sherwin’s daughter Mary Ann. Their son James Asser (1836-1924) and his cousin Charles Sheppard Sherwin (1833-1872) founded the firm of Asser & Sherwin around 1860 at 80-81 Strand Street in London. In the 1861 census both James and Charles were listed as cutlers. Although a cutler was usually someone responsible for making, repairing or selling cutting instruments or implements used for preparing, serving and eating food, occassionally the term was used to describe a shopkeeper. By 1864 James and Charles had married sisters further strengthening their relationship.
In the 1860’s and 70’s the Asser & Sherwin business was listed in trade directories as dressing case, travelling bag, bagatelle board and billiard table manufacturers. At the time a dressing case was a small piece of luggage used to carry brushes, bottles and other toiletries or personal care items needed by someone who traveled. Originally dressing cases were designed for upper class men, as travel was considered inappropriate for women. However, by the Victorian Era, with the emerging middle class, there was a greater need for such items as by then both men and woman enjoyed travel. The firm became successful in part because that same middle class also acquired an interest in leisure activities which included playing games and engaging in sporting events. Based on advertisements in local newspapers and sporting journals, the company sold archery bows and arrows, targets and accoutrements of the finest quality as well as lawn tennis, cricket and croquet supplies. Their dressing cases, traveling bags, ladies’ purses, writing cases and courier bags could be engraved and were often sold as wedding and birthday presents. An additional source of income for the company most likely came from their wives’ inheritance. Until 1882 all of the property and possessions of a married woman legally belonged to her husband and the sisters inherited a substantial amount from their father when he passed away in the 1860’s.
The business expanded in the early 1870’s and within a few years was described as a very substantial and imposing structure with an excellent location. A drawing of the interior of the building, included in the Illustrated London News in 1875, clearly shows a beautiful shop, elaborately decorated and filled with fancy merchandise and sporting goods. However, Asser & Sherwin did not manufacture all of the items they sold in their shop. Many were procured in other places such as Paris, where the company acquired “elegances” and “fancies” in order to cater to ladies and gentleman with the resources to purchase such things. Unfortunately Charles died of tuberculosis in 1872 at age 39 and by 1882 the shop was closed and the business apparently dissolved shortly thereafter.
Needle Cases
Only two needle cases have been uncovered so far with the Asser & Sherwin name. One was a customized Quadruple Casket with the façade of the company’s Strand Street building pressed into the brass. Why William Avery, who patented this needle case in 1868, licensed it to Asser & Sherwin is unclear. It is interesting to note that this same flat-style needle case, with different decoration on the cover, was also licensed to at least two other companies who were dressing case manufacturers: Cormack Brothers and Gay & Sons, both also from the London area. One can only assume there was some type of connection between a needle maker and a dressing case manufacturer or these needle cases with these company names would simply not exist. Obviously needles were used to sew travel bags or purses together, but why they would be distributed in a fancy brass needle case remains a mystery unless they were for the shops patrons. Today one often finds a small sewing kit in certain travel accessories which allows a quick repair in the event of a clothing mishap while away from home. Perhaps brass needle cases filled with Avery needles were something Victorian dressing case makers added to their travel bags. This way the consumer received something that not only served a purpose but also reminded them of the company from which it came and Avery was able to reach out to more people with his needles.
The only other needle case with the Asser & Sherwin name was the Wheelbarrow with Roses which was registered in November 1874 by the Birmingham die-sinker Bunchler & Haseler. It seems likely that this beautifully decorated figural style needle case fit with the shops other “fancies”. Someday we may discover that several of the other figural needle cases patented by Avery and other companies ended up here as well because this shop certainly had the right clientele, middle class women, who would be interested in purchasing them.
MESSRS Asser and Sherwin Archery and Cricket Repository in the Strand
Sources
Asser and Sherwin - Available at www.chessreference.com/Sherwin/asserandsherwin.doc in March 2013
Asser and Sherwin – Games Manufacturer or Inventor - www.gamesboard.org.uk in March 2013
Asser and Sherwin Brass Needle Cases - The Thimble Society, Vol. 10, Issue 4, Spring 2009 page 5. Available at http://content.yudu.com/Library/A19nmx/ThimbleSocietyofLond/resources/5.htm
Bradshaw’s Notes for Travellers in the Tyrol and Vorarlberg, 1863. Page 51contains an advertisement for wedding and birthday presents: dressing cases, travelling bags, etc. Available at Google Books.
The British Library Business and Intellectual Property Centre, London - Patents:
- #3517 dated Nov. 19, 1868 – Quadruple Golden Casket patent to William Avery & Albert Fenton, Redditch.
Cutler – www.thefreedictionary.com
Dressing Case – www.thefreedictionary.com
Dressing Case – www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-dressing-case.htm
Genealogical research provided by Richard Sherwin of Birmingham, UK, second great-grandson of Charles Sheppard Sherwin. Personal correspondence via email in April and May 2014.
The National Archives in Kew, UK – Design Registrations:
- #287090 dated Nov. 18, 1874 (in BT 43/37 and BT 44/3) – Wheelbarrow with Roses registered to Bunchler & Haseler Birmingham
Sharpe, J. The Archer’s Register: A Year Book of Facts for 1878-79, 1879. Page 217 contains an advertisement for athletic sports, archery, etc. equipment. Available at Google Books.
