Arts and Industry
Needle Case (photographs courtesy of Bunny's Place)
Design Representation
Design Details
Needle Case Type: |
Figural |
Patent/Registered to: |
William Bartleet & Sons - Redditch |
Patent/Design Representation #: |
Ornamental Class1: Metal: #320012 |
Patent/Design Registration Date: |
April 1, 1878 |
Location of Patent/Design Registration: |
The National Archives (TNA) - Kew, UK |
Reference #: |
TNA Representation - BT 43/43/320012
TNA Register - BT 44/4/320012 |
Dimensions: |
3 1/4 inches high x 2 5/8 inches wide x 1 3/8 inches deep |
Material: |
Brass |
Name Variations: |
Wm. Bartleet & Sons - Redditch |
Other Variations: |
None |
Additional Photographs
Front/side and back views
With sides dropped down and side signature detail
Front detailed views
Facts
The 1878 World’s Fair (Exposition Universelle in French) was held in Paris to celebrate the recovery of France after the Franco-Prussian
War. Although it was the third of four World’s Fairs to be held in Paris during the 19th century, it was much larger than the earlier
two and encompassed 66 acres. French exhibits filled over half of the exhibition space and focused on art and industry. The United
Kingdom, including its colonies and related territories such as Canada and Australia, occupied approximately a third of the space reserved for
the other nations. Germany was the only major county not represented. 13 million people attended the fair where major inventions
such as the telephone and phonograph were displayed. One of the main buildings was the elaborate Palais du Trocadéro, shown in the
drawing below, which was built on the northern bank of the Seine River and stood there until 1937.
History
According to exhibition catalogues eight Redditch area needle manufactures whose names are found on Avery style needle cases attended the
1878 Exposition Universelle. They included W. Avery & Son, William Bartleet & Sons, Hayes, Crossley & Co, Henry Milward &
Sons, James Smith & Sons, S. Thomas & Sons, R. Turner & Sons, and William Woodfield and Sons. Bartleet designed the needle
case on this page specifically for the event as it has the words “Souvenir de l'Exposition 1878” inscribed on it. In addition, Bartleet was
the only one of the eight who also particiapted in the first World's Fair, the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. Click on the picture
below to see a larger version of this 1891 advertisement that indicates Bartlett won a gold medal at the 1878 exhibition for their needles.
Miscellaneous
In 1870 the French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi began to design the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France to the United
States. However, due to the Franco-Prussian War and other commitments, actual work on the statue didn’t begin until the mid-1870’s.
The right arm and torch were completed and transported to Philadelphia for the 1876 World’s Fair, although it was returned to France a few
years later. When the statue’s head and crown were finished it was displayed at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle. Within a
year the structural engineer Gustave Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower, joined the developers in order to assist with the
construction of the pedestal on which the statue would stand. After the statue was completed in 1885, it was disassembled, packed
up and shipped to New York City where it was reassembled and ultimately dedicated in 1886.
