Austrian Spinner II

As modern spinners we are familiar with a few usual styles of wheels--saxony or flax wheel; great, wool, or muckle wheel, and castle-style wheel.  In the past, however, there have been many more styles of wheels than we see today.

One example is the wheel that I showed in my last entry.  Variously called a Swiss or Austrian style (I haven't been able to determine if there is a distinction between the two), it is distinguished by the drive wheel being edge-on to the spinner rather than facing her. 

(as always, click for big)

The treadle is parallel with the drive wheel, on the left here, and the spinner sits to the side of the wheel, treadling with her right foot.

The examples of this style wheel and the photos that I have seen show the wheel to be a single drive system.  That is, the drive band goes directly around one end of the bobbin.  There is no whorl.

Sometimes the base of the wheel is a box-like construction as above, and sometimes it is open on two sides, as seen in this delicate version from the early 1800's.

The mother-of-all rides up and down on the vertical tensioning screw through the top beam.  As with the drive wheel, the flyer is rotated 90 degrees, with the orifice directed off to the side toward the spinner.

Thus the spinner drafts with the left hand, across her body and off to the left, without the need for any torso-twisting contortions.  It's a surpisingly comfortable way to spin.

Pennington and Taylor in Spinning Wheels and Accessories show a sturdy version of this style wheel on page 12.

I don't recall offhand if Cummer shows this style wheel (I can't locate my copy).  Anyone?

If any of you dear readers have any other information about this style wheel, please speak up.

spinning wheel

Comments

[Carson]

I just discovered your blog via the Panopticon.
It's a fascinating yarn-related archive you're building up here.
I do a lot of visual research for my design work and I always appreciate the archivist's eye and labour.
Interesting stuff!

[Beth S.]

The wheel in the last picture isn't yours, is it?... Suddenly I am immensely curious about the treasures which your own wheel collection must hold! I have a feeling that there must be some fairly awesome antique wheels at your place. Or at least one really stunning, lovingly restored production wheel. Am I right? ;-)

[Martha]

I like that design too. Although the first picture, like the previous post, leads me to wonder: is it necessary to load the entire fleece onto the distaff? These women (and/or these wheels) must have been very productive.

[Marcy, Not so Blogless]

'"Surprisingly comfortable"? I suppose this means you've ... spun on one?'

Mmmmmmmm, mebbe.

[Cassie]

"Surprisingly comfortable"? I suppose this means you've ... spun on one?

[Laurie]

I like the cleanness of the design. I wonder why no one uses that design anymore

[zinlizzie]

Most excellent! I'm a left hand drafter, so it would be perfect.