This item was contained in a tool chest belonging to woodworker Jesse Bryson Stalcup. It is unclear what this item was used for. A metal spike protrudes from the wooden portion about one inch and the tip appears to be broken off. This may have...
This item, page 81 from a previous notebook, was pasted on to a journal page. A handwritten page number "97" has been erased from the upper right corner. Discoloration on this page is due to acid contamination from a newspaper clipping on...
Calling cards; Box of calling cards; white paper cards are printed: "HORACE KEPHART SWAIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BRYSON CITY, N.C."; blue cardboard slip-box stamped: "LINWEAVE VISITING CARDS" and "Mr," and has a...
Indian wood-carving; Indian wood-carving -- Appalachian Region, Southern; Wood-carving -- Appalachian Region, Southern;
It is not known who made these carved wood shoes in the collection of Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual. They are unique item. More typically, the Eastern Band of Cherokee make carvings for various purposes: dough bowls and spoons for use in the...
This pamphlet entitled "Road Laws of Swain County, 1923" (Observer Printing House, Charlotte, N.C.) contains, beginning on page 20, the text of a bill authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly entitled “H.B. 438. S.B. 447 An...
This undated photograph by an unknown photographer shows a display of craft objects at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. The exhibit features a variety of Cherokee craft traditions and showcases the work of reknowned potters, basket makers, and...
A squirrel cage swift, or barrel swift, holds a skein of yarn while it is wound into a ball. The two cages adjust for variously sized skeins. In this very old example, dating to the 1800s, one base has broken off, and the upper cage is off track...
After fiber had been spun it needed to be transferred to a skein for ease of handling. The thread was run from the spinning bobbin and tied to one arm of the winder. The box behind the wheel contains the gears or clock which keeps count as the...
Woolen and worsted spinning -- Appalachian Region, Southern;
This wool comb was likely made in the late 1800s. In order to create worsted yarn, fibers must be worked consistently in the same direction. Hand combs are used to pull locks of wool in this way. A weighted comb is loaded with clean uncarded...
This is a modern example of a very old fiber tool called a niddy noddy, which is a skein winder. Each complete wrap counts as about two yards of fiber. The yarn which remains on it, shows the twisting that occurs with each wrap. This tool,...
A flax spinning wheel is generally smaller then a wool spinning wheel. This 1800s-era example was done as a model. It has an attached distaff (coming out toward the camera). The spinner would sit to the right, facing left as he/she spun, working...
A stretcher, also known as a temple or tenter hooks, was used to keep an even tension on the selvages. Sharp ends would fasten into the weaving on either side of the loom as the stretcher was opened. This stretcher has a pin in the side that can...
This is an 1800s-era flax hackle; the creator of this item is unknown. After flax has been broken and scutched, it is hackled to remove the last of the plant material. A handful of flax stems or a strick is pulled through the long metal teeth...
A shuttle carries the weft fiber for a weaver across the warp. The warp is strung on to a loom from the back to where the weaver sits in front. A weaver needs at least one shuttle, and may use several, for different colors or for different...
A flax break such as this one is used to break the stems of flax plants so that the strands of fiber can be removed for spinning. The top boards are raised so that the plant stems lie in between top and bottom. When the boards are lowered, they...
After fiber had been spun it needed to be transferred to a skein for ease of handling. The thread was run from the spinning bobbin and tied to one arm of the winder. The box behind the wheel contains the gears or clock which kept count as the...
This is an 1800s-era flax hackle; the creator of this item is unknown. After flax has been broken and scutched, it is hackled to remove the last of the plant material. The hackle was clamped to a table or held between the worker's knees. The...
Before running the warp for a loom, the threads must be measured for tying on. By winding threads in a consistent track across the board, the weaver was able to estimate the length of one rotation from beginning to end. Fiber is tied on to a...
