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Minerva Lever

Minerva Lever needle case
Needle Case


Patent (patent #3517 stamped on actual needle case)

Design Details

Needle Case Type:

Flat-Names

Patent/Registered to:

William Avery - Redditch Needle Manufacturer and Albert Fenton of the same place, Machinist

Patent/Design Representation #:

Mechanical Patent #: 3517 (Fig. 5 & 6)

Patent/Design Registration Date:

November 19, 1868

Location of Patent/Design Registration:

British Library - Business and Intellectual Property Centre - London

Reference #:

1868-3517

Dimensions:

4.3 x 1.8

Material:

Brass

Name Variations:

Copestake, Moore, Crampton & Co - London

Other Variations:

Patent Lever

Additional Photographs

Front and back views

Back detail views

Back detail and front detail

Facts

Minerva was the Roman goddess of war, knowledge and trade.  The Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena.  Minerva is often depicted with a helmet, shield, breastplate and spear.

facts

History

Minerva arrived in Britain with the Roman Conquest in 43BC and remained long after the Roman occupation ended in 410 AD.  A temple to Minerva was constructed in the town of Bath in 60-70 AD near the area’s natural hot springs.  In the 2nd century AD the Minerva Shrine shown below was carved into the sandstone quarry on the old Roman road in Handbridge, just south of the city of Chester.  The Roman fortress at Chester was considered one of the finest strategic outposts of the Roman Empire.

history

Miscellaneous

The English poet Lord Byron wrote the “Curse of Minerva” in 1811.  In the poem Byron prophesized that Scotland would be cursed for the deeds of Lord Elgin.  During a visit to Athens, Byron wrote the poem after he learned that Lord Elgin, a Scotsman, acquired the Parthenon Marbles (decorative panels originally part of the ancient Greek Parthenon on the acropolis) which were transported to England between 1802 and 1805.  In 1816 Elgin sold the marbles to the British Parliament who subsequently presented them to the British Museum where they remain to this day, now known as the Elgin Marbles.  Byron lived from 1788 until 1824 during a period known as the Romantic Age of poetry.

misc