These two postcards of Corsican knitters date to about the first decade of the twentieth century.
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890)
Shepherd with a Flock of Sheep, 1884
(click for big)
Bringing home the sheep in the lowering darkness. I think the shepherd looks so tired because he doesn't seem to have a dog to help him.
This marvelous image was taken in 1908 in Washington State in the US.
Judging by the spinner's age, I would guess that she would have been an early pioneer of the state. Note all the pioneer-era objects in the photo. I love that she is clearly spinning and not merely posing with the wheel for the photographer.
And here is that image hand tinted and made into a postcard of the same vintage.
I have many thousands of images on my computer of all things fiberish, and from time to time as I'm browsing through them something will emerge as a common theme, feature, or phenomenon. I present to you one such: