Cretan Spinner

This postcard of a spinner in Crete is captioned in French and was mailed in 1903 from Czechoslovakia.

(Click for bigness)

Judging by the folds and creases in her clothing, it looks like she dressed in her very best for the photographer. 

Note the interesting distaff head and the apparent lack of a whorl on the spindle.

Comments

[Terry aka Goatldi]

Hey M-

Email me sometime.We need to catch or slow down!

[Laughingrat]

I second Noricum's theory about small/bead whorl and large cop...

[Sylvia]

I want to touch her embroidery! [Can I say that here?]

[Manise]

Awesome postcard! Near and dear to my heart as you know.

[cyndy]

Very beautiful postcard- such a wonderfully ornate distaff! And gorgeous clothing...

Something seems to be amiss with the dates..Czechoslovakia did not become a country until 1918, right? Maybe someone put the stamp on after the postmark?

[Laurie]

After watching the rock spindle video that was making the rounds, nothing surprises me anymore. Have stick, will spin.

[noricum]

I noticed the lack of a whorl on the spindle too. (The distaff looks like a spindle, and the spindle looks like a stick!) I wonder if it's a bead spindle, and the cop is wound around the bead as well as the shaft? (In effect, the cop would be increasing the size of the bead.)

I definitely agree with your assessment of the creases indicating the clothing is her best. Especially since there's a lot of embroidery (or fancy weaving) on the apron, and the outer garment looks very fine, possibly silk?