shuttle (loom component)

Wooden shuttle with protective iron strips at the end of each point. The bottom of the textile tool is protected with two iron strips on each side. There is a hole pierced through the wood in the centre.

We have several such examples in the collections at St Fagans National History Museum, used on weaving looms in woollen mills throughout Wales. One example in particular, acc no F69.352.3, in top of photo attached, is nearly the same as the Horniman example, except that it also includes the metal bar on which the yarn was wrapped. These shuttles were common and varied in size and shape; some curved as above, most with straight sides. F69.352.3 came from Dre-Fach Felindre, Carmarthenshire, which is now also the location of the National Wool Museum, part of the National Museum of Wales.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
18.4
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: .9843 x 12.0079 x 2.6378 in.; 25 x 305 x 67 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood; iron
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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Collection Information

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