Description:
Hatchels, also known as hetchels, were used to comb flax fibers in preparation for spinning and weaving. The name comes from a late 15th-century English word (hackle) meaning to prick or pierce. Hatchels are made with long iron teeth or nails secured into a wooden base. The teeth would align the flax fibers which are combed through it, separating out the shorter (tow) fibers from the longer ones desired for spinning into yarns suitable for weaving linen. As many as five hatchels of increasingly finely spaced teeth could be used to refine the flax before spinning. Hatchel which was probably made in the vicinity of Somers, Conn. Hatchels, also known as hetchels, were used to comb flax fibers in preparation for spinning and weaving. The name comes from a late 15th-century English word (hackle) meaning to prick or pierce. The long iron teeth aligned the flax fibers and separate out the shorter ones, keeping the longer ones for linen weaving. Displays significant signs of age and wear in the repaired wooden base, which is cracked and held together with hemp, flax, or leather thread similar to that used in shoemaking. Round nails. Presented by donor in memory of her husband, a descendant of John Williams of Deerfield through the Chapins.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+73.043 |
