Dog Carrying Woven Basket
Needle Case (photographs courtesy of Bunny's Place)
Patent/design registration not found
There is some question about the authenticity of this item. However, since it meets all of the criteria we have established for classification as an Avery needle case, it will remain on our Master List unless additional evidence is uncovered. We would like to see more photos of this item as well as the Donkey with Panniers in order to examine the details of the baskets and how they are attached to each other and how one fits into the dog’s mouth. Only with this additional information can we ascertain whether this item is authentic or not.
Since a design registration/patent for this item has not been found and it appears to be a “one of a kind” item (only one example has ever been found), skeptics believe it might be a later creation, two unrelated pieces brought together to form a new item. Let’s say in Victorian times the lady of the house had the Donkey with Panniers needle case on her dressing table while her son had a menagerie of cast metal animals, including a dog, with which he played; toys produced in Birmingham around the same time as the needle case. At the end of his mother’s life, the son inherits a box which contains both items along with other articles. Later when he opens the box to review its contents he discovers one of the baskets on the donkey is broken. At the same time he sees the dog and it brings back memories of his childhood when the family’s Golden Retriever would hold a basket in its mouth. The son decides to recreate that scene and takes the metal dog and brass basket to the local metal smith who creates the Dog Carrying a Woven Basket which of course is signed W. Avery & Son on the brass basket.
Generations later this item is discovered at an estate sale and voile, the antique dealer who discovers it is familiar with Avery needle cases, so she scarfs it up for a friend she knows who collects Averys. Since both pieces, the dog and the basket, were actually produced around the same time and the two pieces have been together for over 100 years, its authenticity is never questioned.
Now why do we think this story is plausible? Take a closer look at the photos of the baskets on the Donkey with Panniers and compare them to the photos we have of the basket the dog is carrying. From the photos they appear to be identical. In addition the basket the dog is carrying has an extra loop on the bottom near the Avery signature and diamond registration mark as if it was meant to be attached to something else. Is that same loop found on the donkey where the two baskets attach to each other? Another question would be, is the Avery name stamped on the bottom of the baskets on the donkey in the same way as the one stamped on the basket the dog is carrying? The diamond registration mark on the piece attaching the baskets seems to match the mark on the basket the dog is carrying; 31, D, ?? which translates to ??/31/1878 (a search for the design registration/patent for a needle case registered on the 31st of all months in 1878 was undertake and nothing was found). We’d also like to know how the handle in the dog’s mouth attaches to the basket in order to see if it is attached in a manner similar to the way pieces on other Avery needle cases are attached to each other. Unless we obtain additional photos of these two needle cases or another Dog Carrying a Woven Basket is discovered we can’t truly authenticate this item.
Design Details
Needle Case Type: |
Figural |
Patent/Registered to: |
Unknown |
Patent/Design Representation #: |
Unknown |
Patent/Design Registration Date: |
Unknown |
Location of Patent/Design Registration: |
Unknown |
Reference #: |
Unknown |
Dimensions: |
2.5 x 12 x 7.1 |
Material: |
Brass |
Name Variations: |
W. Avery & Son - Redditch |
Other Variations: |
None |
Additional Photographs
Side and back views
Front view and bottom of basket signature detail
