1991.178.105 - Spinning Wheel, Vertical, Double Bobbin and Flyer

1991.178.105 - Spinning Wheel, Vertical, Double Bobbin and Flyer

Spinning equipment

1991.178.105

Spinning wheel; vertical with wheel above two bobbin/flyer units, treadle. A rectangular table, resting on four splayed legs, has a central post set into a slot. The treadle board is set into a pivoting bar between two legs. A footman connects the treadle to the drive wheel axle. A crossbar, perpendicular to the central post, holds a short second wheel post. The wheel has 14 spokes and the rim, with two grooves is constructed of 4 sections. Both bobbin/flyers are complete. The front maidens are set into one horizontal bar; the back maidens are attached to the outside of another parallel horizontal bar. They are connected by a second perpendicular crossbar set into the central post. A threaded rod fits through the table and passes through the two crossbars. A doubled drive-band goes around the whorls on both bobbin/flyers and the drive wheel. The three-part stick-style distaff fits into the upper crossbar.

overall : horizontal 18 in. x vertical 48 in. x depth 16 in.

wood, metal

early to mid-19th century

United States

Library volunteer, Diane Howes, purchased the same spinning wheel from an antiques dealer. Her wheel had a tag on it that said it was found in the attic of the Adams house in Newburyport. The ATHM wheel has the initials "AAA" carved on the reverse. # 105 in Cummer's book.

Good; one flyer arm has been replaced.

Joan Whittaker Cummer, A Book of Spinning Wheels (Portsmouth, NH : Peter E. Randall Publisher, 1994), p. 228-229. Photo and brief essay on spinning wheel.