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Culture:American
Title:hatchel; hetchel
Date Made:1750-1840
Type:Tool - Textile Working
Materials:base metal: iron; wood
Place Made:United States; Massachusetts; Deerfield area (probably)
Measurements:overall: 6 1/2 x 29 x 6 3/4 in.; 16.51 x 73.66 x 17.145 cm
Accession Number:  HD 69.1121
Museum Collection:  Historic Deerfield
1969-1121t.jpg

Description:
Wooden hatchel with iron spikes. 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, separating out the shorter ones from the longer fibers 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. This example is a larger, more coarse hatchel. Miss Margaret C. Whiting (1860-1946) gift to PVMA, listed in the Domestic Room as "112. Belonged to "Uncle Bill" Russell."

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+69.1121

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.

3 Related Media Items

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