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

U.K. Patent 1869-2998

This mechanical patent was registered by William Avery and Albert Fenton on October 14th, 1869.  It covers the Athena/Stella, all Demi-Quads, the Ladies Companion and all Royal needle cases and consists of three drawings and seven pages of text.  This patent also includes drawings or descriptions of fourteen additional needle cases that appear not to have been manufactured as no needles cases like these have been found.  To review the details of this patent, select the appropriate page for the list below.  Once the page is display, click on it to enlarge the text.  Or a PFD version of the entire patent is available at the bottom of this list.

Drawing 1
Drawing 2
Drawing 3
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
PDF for patent 1869-2998

All mechanical patents were formally written and published in patent books in the year in which they were registered.  Copies of these books can be found at a handful of libraries in the UK.  This mechanical patent was originally searched at the Business and Intellectual Property Centre of the British Library in London in April/May2013.  However, this library was unable to make copies at that time because the books in their collection were in a fragile state.  Instead, copies were obtained from the reference desk at the British Library in Sheffield.  Details regarding how the original patent research was accomplished in 2013 can be found at Patent/Design Representation Research.  A PDF formated copy of this mechanical patent was discovered while visiting the Business and Intellectual Property Centre of the British Library in London in April/May 2015 and was added to this webpage in June 2015.

Master List

To date 227 Avery style needle cases have been discovered.  Visit these pages to see photographs of each design as well as the original design registration or patent and gain knowledge about variations within each design.

master list icon

Avery Survey

In 2013 an Avery Survey was created in order to gather as much information as possible about Avery style needle cases from collectors and interested parties around the world.  The Avery Survey is easy to complete and gives you a chance to contribute to this important research.  Be sure and stop here to see the survey results.

survey icon

About Us

Learn how the author turned a hobby cross stitching antique sampler reproductions into a passion for collecting Avery needle cases resulting in a published book, a Wikipedia article, a TCI Bulletin article and conference presentation and this website.

sampler icon