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

Fan with Cupid Cover (front view)

Fan with Cupid front view needle case
Needle Case (photographs from eBay)


Patent

Design Details

Needle Case Type:

Figural (patent doesn’t specify cover design)

Patent/Registered to:

Henry Milward & Sons – Redditch (provisional registered to Theodore Givry, Paris)

Patent/Design Representation #:

Mechanical Patent: #8 (Provisional: #1808 registered December 19, 1867)

Patent/Design Registration Date:

January 1, 1868

Location of Patent/Design Registration:

Mechanical Patent - British Library - Business and Intellectual Property Centre - London
Provisional - The National Archives (TNA) - Kew, UK

Reference #:

TNA Representation - BT 46/6/1808
TNA Register - BT 48/2

Dimensions:

3.4 x 0.8 x 7.5

Material:

Brass

Name Variations:

H. Milward & Sons - Redditch

Other Variations:

a) Fan with Bee and Dog Head Cover
b) Fan with Cupid Cover (side view)
c) Fan with Lady with Fan Cover
d) Fan with Rose Cover
e) Fan with Swan Cover

Additional Photographs

Detail view of the cover

End with the H. Milward & Sons name

Facts

The fan is a device used to create a current of air.  Prior to electricity and air conditioning, fans were used to keep people cool.  Highly decorated hand fans, like the one shown below, were commonplace in the Victorian Era. They were usually semi-circular in shape and consisted of a thin material such as paper or feathers mounted on slats that could be closed when not in use.  Click on the fan below to see an larger version of it.

Cupid facts

History

Cupid dates to the ancient Roman period when he was the mythological god of love.  Although his Classical Greek counterpart, Eros, was a slender winged young man, the Romans depicted Cupid as a cubby boy with wings and a bow and arrow.  According to mythology anyone shot with Cupid’s arrow immediately fell in love.  The famous Italian Renaissance painter Raphael included the cupid shown below in one of his frescos completed in 1514.

Fan history

Miscellaneous

One reason images of cupid became common during the Victorian Period was because of the popularity of Valentine’s Day cards.  Although written valentine greetings first appeared in 15th century, they increased tenfold during the Victorian Era because of advances in color printing and the introduction of the “penny post” which made it easy and inexpensive to mail them.

Fan misc