Winder, Spool

Description

Exquisitely made quill qinder with maple frame and winder pulley, brass drive wheels and bearings (the sixth bearing is maple), steel shafts, winder crank, and winding needle. Crank has a turned maple handle. Two leather belts complete the winding mechanism. Maple frame painted salmon.

Notes

This exquisite machine was used to wind weft yarn onto a quill, bobbin, or spool. Quills, thin tubes of paper made of wood, metal, or the horny part of a feather, filled with yarn, were placed in a weaver's shuttle. As the shuttle was thrown back and forth through the warp the quill would unwind its yarn as it became part of the finished cloth. A number of full quills were needed to insure that the weaver's work was not interrupted. Winding quills was work generally assigned to young Shaker girls. The brass wheels and leather belts on the maple quill winder are positioned in such a way that when the handle is turned a single revolution the spindle on which the quill is wound rotates numerous times, greatly accelerating the speed with which the quill was ready for the weaver's shuttle.