• HOME
• MASTER LIST
• VARIATION
• HISTORY
• COMPANIES
• SPECIAL TOPICS
• RESOURCES
• CONTACT US

• Banner 1
• Banner 2
• Banner 3
• Banner 4

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

Locket

Needle Case (photograph from eBay)

Design Representation

Note: The diamond registration mark on this needle case translates to August 10, 1877 which doesn't match the date this design was registered.  After a thorough review of all metal designs registered to Elijah Atkins at the UK National Archives (TNA) website from January 1, 1877 thru December 31, 1877, it was discovered that there were only seven designs registered that year to Elijah Atkins..  Several of these designs, including the one for the Locket needle case, did not list a subject to indicate the type of design.  A dress holder #312875 was registered by Atkins on August 10, 1877.  It appears as though Atkins accidently used the diamond mark for the dress holder on their Locket needle case.  The firm Coggins & Baxter made a similar mistake on their Lap Desk - Floral and Looking Glass needle cases proving that other manufacturers also made these types of errors.  Although the diamond registration mark for the Locket differs from the date this design was registered and there is no subject listed on the registration documents, the Locket is in fact a needle case because it is stamped with a needle manufacturers name, H. Milward & Sons - Redditch, and has a place inside where needle packets can be stored.  Additionally, Atkins registered another needle case, the Hector, which is only found with the Milward name.  The Locket design was probably originally intended for jewelry because of the monogram, but perhaps Milward saw the potential and asked Atkins to enlarge the format.  Instead of a monogram, which would have been impractical on pressed brass, the stones were used on a base plate the shape of which looks to be heavily influenced by the outline of the monogram on the design registration.

Design Details

Additional Photographs

Side view and open view (photographs from eBay)

Back and name detail with a diamond registration mark equal to August 10, 1877.

A special thank you goes to Lynda Herrod of Brisbane, Australia for finding this item and assisting me in learning more about it.  Without Lynda having brought this to my attention I never would have considered this item and for that I am grateful.  Lynda is another Avery collector as passionate about her collection as I am about mine.  Although we live 14,355 kilometers or 8,920 miles apart (according to Google), Lynda is my constant email companion who always responds quickly to my queries, contributes well researched content and provides excellent feedback.  Although we have corresponded via email since 2012, Lynda and I first met in person at the Thimble Collectors International conference in Kansas, City, MO in 2014.  A few days later she visited me at my home in Illinois.  In 2016 I had the pleasure of meeting Lynda again, this time at the Needlework Tool Collectors Society of Australia conference in Melbourne, Australia.  We spent eleven days together attending the conference and visiting Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane.  One of the highlights of my trip Down Under was seeing her Avery collection.   In 2017 we met again, this time in Bournemouth, UK at the Dorset Thimble Society's annual meeting and a few days later in Redditch, UK where Avery needle cases originated.  For the past year, we have met on a weekly basis online via ZOOM.   Below are photos of Terry and Lynda in 2016 and 2017.

Terry with Lynda in Brisbane, Australia in 2016.

Terry with Lynda in Bournemouth, UK in 2017.

Facts

A locket is a small hinged container usually worn as jewellery used to contain some memento with sentimental value.  Though most commonly worn as a pendant they have also been part of a ring, brooch or bracelet.  Appearing in many shapes including heart, oval, book and round, they are most frequently made of gold or silver but have also been made of brass, copper, aluminium, iron, platinum and even wood.  The contents have varied with the custom of the time but is often an image of a loved one who is living or now deceased.  They have also been used to house herbs, perfume, hair, ashes, written messages and even poison.

History

It is thought that the locket has evolved from the ancient practice of wearing amulets as a protection from evil or disease.  Pendants were worn concealing good luck charms.  Later lockets were made of filigree or with openings to contain perfume-soaked material to mask unpleasant odours in the times of poor personal hygiene or general unsanitary conditions.  These were worn by both men and women.  Lockets in various forms have been around since the 15th century but being expensive items up until the mid-19th century, were associated mainly with the wealthy or aristocracy.  There are examples of lockets with royal connections from the late 16th century onward.  Queen Elizabeth 1 wore an ornately jewelled locket ring with miniature portraits of herself and her mother Anne Boleyn.  Mary Queen of Scots wore a locket with portraits of herself and son James.  In the 17th century loyal followers of Charles 1 secretly wore his portrait set into rings and lockets.  Lockets were used as mourning jewellery from around this period, but later it was Queen Victoria who made this generally fashionable when after her beloved Albert passed away, she had a mourning locket made with his photo and a lock of his hair inside.  The locket reached its peak of popularity in the Victorian era.  Industrialization made the manufacture of jewellery less costly thus more affordable to the growing middle class.  The prohibitive expense of miniature portraiture and later expensive daguerreotype was replaced by relatively inexpensive photography further placing memorial lockets within the reach of Victorian society.

Misc

Queen Victoria’s grief over the death of Albert led her to take the entire court into “full mourning” for a period of three years after which she remained in mourning until her own death.  Victorian society was heavily influenced becoming somewhat death obsessed and adopting elaborate mourning etiquette and rituals.  In “full mourning”, widows wore heavy black concealing clothing of dull fabric, crepe veils and a black cap or bonnet, and no jewellery.  After a suitable period of at least a year and a day “slighting of mourning” was allowed with some relaxation of the strict darkness of dress and the wearing of mourning jewellery.  A further period in “half mourning” where grey, mauve or white could be introduced completed the time of mourning.  This length of mourning depended on the relationship to the deceased and for a widow was two or more years.  With the high incidence of infant and child mortality some women wore black for most of their married lives.  The most popular material used for mourning jewellery was jet, a semi-precious black gemstone.  The hair from the deceased loved one was another commonly used material.  This could be braided into a rope to make a necklace or bracelet.  Hair was also artistically arranged within glass fronted brooches, lockets and rings.

Note: Right side panel text and photos provided by Lynda Herrod.

©Copyright 2021 Terry Meinke. All rights reserved.