Charles I, King and Collector, and Bourne Mill Needle Museum, Redditch

On Thursday 5 March, I went with Matt to Charles I, King and Collector.  We were only there an hour, and this was too rushed, but we went after he finished work at 4.30.  I'm not into Charles I but there was one interesting portrait, Agnola Bronzino's Portrait of a Woman in Green.  I've noticed before that when there is a blackwork collar, the stitched pattern on the inside is different to the stitched pattern on the outside.  Lovely details.

Courtesy of Royal Collection

Then Jim and I had a run up to Redditch to go to the Needle Museum.  Very interesting.  Needle making in Victorian times was a skilled and highly dangerous (often fatal) job.  There are about 40 stages of making a needle - drawing the length, punching the eyes, splitting, shaping, smoothing, polishing, packing.   But sharpening the needles was the most dangerous because the metal dust destroyed the lungs.

Women packing needles were tested to see whether their hands would tarnish the needles.  They used to be given a handful of needles to hold for a few seconds, then these needles would be put in a tiny airtight tin.  If they had not tarnished after a few days, the girl would be given the job.  Some people's sweat tarnishes needles.  When I used to stitch as a teenager, I tarnished needles very quickly, yet now I don't.  I have tried to find out what it is in sweat that tarnishes needles, but have no definitive answer.  I suspect some acid comes out in sweat (like it does in cystitis).  If so, I would be unsurprised to discover that my teenage diet (highly processed, not enough fluids) led to my sweat being acidic, so I was destroying needles.  A better diet now seems to have improved my impact on needles!

Needle packaging 

Sailors leather palm and needles for repairing sails

Needles used on a patent darner

Early hypodermic syringes.  Another form of needles.

Incredibly fine hand embroidery on christening chemise.
How good would their eyes have been to stitch white on white at this very fine scale?!

These hypodermic needles were originally made from sheet metal, rolled and brazed. Now they are drilled out from a carbon steel core and drawn out until sufficiently thin for modern surgery.

Bronze needle holder.  Rotate to close.

Diagram of needle dimensions

Fancy packaging for needles

Different types of needle eyes.
This calyx eye was promoted for visually impaired people but never really caught on.

Buttonholes

Arm and blade symbol of Milwards Needles

Old fashioned needle display, including fancy curved needles

Gramophone needle box

More commercial needle displays

The tempering of the metal affected the playing tone.
There were 4 grades, most commonly loud and soft.

Fancy boxes for gramophone needles.