Description:
Double-flyer flax wheel stamped "S.P." for Solomon Plant (1741-1822), a specialized wheel maker whose shop was located in Stratford, Conn. Flax wheels were used to spin flax fibers into yarn suitable for weaving. They are also known as low wheels, Dutch wheels, saxony wheels, Brunswick wheels, or bobbin-flyer wheels. Flax spinning and linen weaving were important household industries in early European settlements of the American northeast until well into the 19th century. This example, known as a double flyer (or gossip) wheel has two bobbin and flyer assemblies to facilitate two-handed spinning. The fibers are twisted by turning the flyer while simultaneously drawn onto the bobbin. This example, like most, is treadle-driven. According to an article by Florence Feldman-Wood in "The Spinning Wheel Sleuth": "The examples of Solomon Plant's double flyer wheels have a structure typical of a double-flyer wheel with the drive wheel below the flyers. The lower table rests on four legs. Four upright posts are set into the table with the front pair angled toward the spinner. A split upper table fits onto these posts. Two short posts in the center of the lower table hold the drive-wheel axle. On the back part of the upper table are two threaded screws. The mushroom caps come off and a turned rod rests between them. The maidens are set into the front top table. The spindle shaft rests between the maiden in the front and leather bearings attached to the truned rod in the back. The variations in this style of wheel are seen in the turnings on the posts, drive wheel spokes, and maidens." The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) owns a similar, locally-owned Solomon Plant double flyer spinning wheel, which is on view at their Memorial Hall Museum. Solomon Plant was born in Branford, Connecticut on May 1, 1741. He served in the French and Indian War, and by 1763 he settled in Stratford, Connecticut. His day book, in the collection of the Stratford Historical Society, records his production between 1811 and 1821. During those 10 years, he produced 271 spinning wheels, 160 (59%) were double flyers, which he may have started making as early as 1796 or 1797. He charged an average price of $4 per double flyer. Plant sold both retail and wholesale, and also made and sold reels, quill wheels (bobbin winders), whirls, and repair work.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+56.151 |
