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Culture:American
Title:scutching knife
Date Made:1775-1850
Type:Tool - Textile Working
Materials:wood
Place Made:United States
Measurements:overall: 7/8 in x 2 in x 24 3/4 in; 2.2 cm x 5.1 cm x 62.9 cm
Accession Number:  HD 54.004.07
Credit Line:Gift of Mrs. Emily Thorne
Museum Collection:  Historic Deerfield
1954-4-7t.jpg

Description:
Scutching or swingling knife with a long curved handle and slightly tapered, flat blade, which was used to separate woody fibre from flax or hemp by beating. Scutching knives were used in the processing of flax fibers. These tools scutched or swingled broken shives of the flax fibers (achieved through the use of a flax break) from the tough line fibers. The user would grasp a bunch of flax, and hold it over a board where it would be beaten with the scutching knife. These tools were known as a swingling knife in England, or a Scutching knife in Scotland. This example has a slightly unusual curved handle; one side of the knife is flatter than the other, beveled side. An indentation may be a wormhole present in the wood before being made into the knife.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+54.004.07

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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