A needle case is a small container made to hold sewing needles safely, keeping them clean, dry and easy to find. Antique examples are usually slender cylinders with a screw or push-fit cap, flat book-like folders with fabric leaves, or small boxes, and they were often carried in the pocket, a sewing box or hung from a chatelaine.
Needles were once costly and precious, so their cases were frequently made with great care and from fine materials, including silver, gold, ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, enamel and carved wood. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries produced a wide variety of forms, from Georgian silver and enamel cases to Victorian Tunbridge ware, Mauchline ware and souvenir pieces, figural cases shaped like umbrellas or fish, and novelty cases fitted with Stanhope lenses containing tiny photographs. The Redditch district of Worcestershire was the centre of English needle manufacture, and makers such as W. Avery & Son produced decorative brass needle cases in many patterns. Collectors look for fine materials, unusual forms, good condition of hinges and threads, and makers' marks or hallmarks. Needle cases form a delightful collecting field alongside thimbles, pin cushions and other sewing accessories.
