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Butterfly Box – Oval Tub

Butterfly Box Oval Tub needle case
Needle Case


Design Representation

Design Details

Needle Case Type:

Figural

Patent/Registered to:

W. Avery & Son - Redditch

Patent/Design Representation #:

Ornamental Class1: Metal: #261191

Patent/Design Registration Date:

March 16, 1872

Location of Patent/Design Registration:

The National Archives (TNA) - Kew, UK

Reference #:

TNA Representation - BT 43/31/261191
TNA Register - BT 44/2/261191

Dimensions:

6.8 x 3.7 x 2.3

Material:

Brass

Name Variations:

a) W. Avery & Son - Redditch
b) Cook-Son & Co - London (the only known needle case with this company name is in the collection found at www.averyneedlecases.com as no example of this needle case with this company name has been seen by the authors of this website)
c) Copestake, Moore, Crampton & Co - London
d) Hutton & Co - London
e) H. Milward & Sons - Redditch
f) Pratt & Famer - New York
g) Charles Schleicher - Belle-Vallee, Aix Chapelle - also known as Aachen, Germany

Other Variations:

a) Oval Tub - Diamond Jubilee
b) Oval Tub - Kaiser Wilhelm I Bust
c) Oval Tub - Ladies Portrait Bust
d Oval Tub - Scott’s Monument
e) Oval Tub - Scott’s Portrait Bust

Additional Photographs

Top closed and top opened

Long side and short side views

Bottom and Avery signature detail

Milward signature detail (photo from eBay) and Copestake signature detail (photograph courtesy of Colin Jackson)

Pratt signature detail (photograph courtesy of Patricia Caras) and Schleicher signature detail (photograph courtesy of Margie Harris)

Hutton signature detail (photograph from Bleasdales Auction, Summer 2020)

Facts

The High Brown Fritillaries butterfly shown here is found throughout Europe and Asia.  It seems most likely that this is the butterfly that W. Avery & Son used as the model for their butterfly needle cases.

facts

History

Butterfly collecting was one of the most popular pastimes during the Victorian Era because the Industrial Revolution gave the middle class time for leisure activities.  Victorians loved nature and Darwin's "Origin of Species", published in 1859, revolutionized the way people thought about it.  The Speckled Wood butterfly seen here, which is also found in Northern and Central Europe, has many of the characteristic similar to the butterflies on Avery needle cases.

history

Miscellaneous

The Monarch is the best known North American butterfly.  Although rarely found in the UK, they first appeared in Australian and New Zealand in the mid-19th century.  The Monarch is renowned for its spring migration from Mexico to Canada and the U.S. and its return in the fall.

location