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This is the place to come to learn about Avery style needle cases.

Picture in Cruciform Frame

Needle case

Front and back showing pasteboard insert with girl and cats on the front and girl at the beach with a bucket of water on the back)

Design Representation

Design Details

Additional Photographs

Interior of the pasteboard insert with needle packet holders

Version with pastebaord insert with two girls and flowers on the front and a vase of flowers on the back (photographs courtesy of David Chatterley)

Thank you

A special thank you goes to David Chatterley of Headless Cross for sharing with me photogrpahs of his needle case that he felt was the Picture in Cruciform Frame.  Because I had never seen it before, at first I questioned its authenticity especially since I have discovered a number of items that have been missclassified as Avery needle cases in the past.  However, I did notice it pretty much matched the patent drawing, although David was unable to read the diamond registration mark on the actual needle case.  As I result, I decided to do a bit more research and within days discovered the exact same needle case for sale online except the pasteboard interior had different chromolithographic prints.  More importantly photos of this version were quite clear and I was able to read two parts of the diamond registration mark which matched with the patent.  I therefore purchased the item and when it arrived discovered I could read all three parts of the registration mark and now knew this needle case was the Picture in Cruciform Frame.  Without David having brought this to my attention I never would have considered this item and for that I am very grateful to David.  I first met David at his home in Headless Cross in 2017 when my friend Raymond McLaren introduced us because Ray knew we had a shared interest.  Therefore a special thank you goes to Ray as well.  Below are photos of Terry with David and with Ray which were taken during her 2017 and 2018 trips to Redditch.

Terry with David Chatterley, 2017.

Terry with Raymond McLaren toasting to William Avery, 2018.

Facts

Cruciform is a geometric shape in the form of a cross with two short intersecting lines perpendicular to each other.  This shape was used frequently in architecture and cruciform design elements are also found in many other artistic settings.  A picture frame is the decorative edge placed around a picture, painting or photograph to protect it and make it easier to display.  The end result when combining the two is a picture frame with some type of cruciform shape.  This could be the way in which the corners of the frame meet as shown in the design registration on this page or it could be the overall shape of the frame as seen in the modern picture frame below.

History

The floor plans of most early Christian churches were based on the Latin cross which was cruciform in shape.  Many of these churches were built during the Medieval Period in the Gothic architectural style with pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses.  Although there are a number of Gothic churches in England, Westminster Abbey in London is the best known.  Construction started in 1245 and was basically completed in 1517, however the two west towers weren’t built until the mid-18th century in the Gothic Revival style.  All coronation ceremonies of British monarchs took place in the Abbey including Queen Victoria’s in 1837.   Many famous British writers and scientists are buried here including the greatest novelist and scientist of the Victorian period, Charles Dickens (1870) and Charles Darwin (1882).

Miscellaneous

Picture frames of all types were very popular with the Victorians.  They were made of wood, gilt metal, ceramic, embroidery or lace, ivory and any other materials common to the time period.  Mass production techniques of the Industrial Revolution made fancy, elaborate frames available to most middle and upper class families.  They became fashion items in many homes and contained not only drawings and chromolithographic prints but often mounted butterflies, dried flowers or other items of nature.  When photography became more common in the second half of the 19th century, personal portraits of family members filled many of these frames.

©Copyright 2020 Terry Meinke. All rights reserved.