With the recent sale of yet another variant, a brief review of the model seems due!
The origin of manufacture has not yet been established. What is clear, however, is that this miniature, marketed by Daniel Judson of London, was patented by Thomas Herbert Martin of Middlesex, with the first application in England on Sept. 29th 1886.
The potential for this simple design was quickly realized and patent protection was sought in many European & Commonwealth countries, together with the USA.
The machine was being advertised and sold in the UK as early as December 1886. An illustration clearly shows the name "The Tabitha", together with ornamental designs front-stamped on the upper parts of the frame. The stitch plate at this time is no more than a folded-over part of the main body. Also, the wooden drive handle has not yet arrived! It is reasonable to speculate, therefore, that this variant, one of the scarcest today, was the first marketed model.
The more familiar model with the ribbed - for strength - frame followed. The name now appears pressed on the always thinner gauge base plate. Some examples also carry the "patent applied for" text on the banner design. A wooden handle has now been added. The majority also feature a separately factored and soldered-on stitch plate - a big usability feature.
The final incarnation features the fluted deep base, this giving better clearance for the handle motion. These latter models are very uncommon. Until recently, the handful known have all featured an upmarket nickel plated finish.
A couple of months ago, a collector reported to me that he had acquired a fluted base model which did not have the nickel finish. The recent sale of a second, would seem to confirm that a gilded fluted-base machine was also marketed.
Addendum :- all the machines I have seen feature a crude thread tension. This is normally fitted midpoint in the back frame. I have noted variations of this, however. In the patent specification, tension relies merely upon a compression spring restraining the bobbin - production must have revealed inadequacies in this!


G.D.
July 1999.