Antique Italian Drop Spindle 10
This is an antique italian drop spindle (not a replica) from my personal collection. It has been cleaned and waxed, but presents the sign of times. Please refer to the details!
You use it like you would do with a Turkish spindle, with a half knot on top to hold the thread you are spinning - the notch on top ensures that the knot doesn’t slip.
This spindle was used for different fibers: here in the mountains, folks used to spin wool on it. On the countryside plains instead, they also cultivated hemp and spun it with these spindles.
**PRISTINE CONDITION. Also, this one is special. I only found two spindles made this way. It is much slimmer than the usual, very elongated, and the belly is sort of flattened, not completely round, which leads me to believe it was hand carved. Anyway, it’s a very unique one and I love to spin on her sister.
Size: 27cm (11in)
Weight: 31gr
A bit of lore…
It was a treasure for every girl and woman, especially in a farmers economy, where it was essential in transforming wool into garments, in a society that was quite poor and where a wheel was a luxury.
In Italian, to spin wool is said "filare" (to make thread, more or less). During the courtship, it was tradition for the young man to gift the fiancee with a spindle. In fact, when a young girl had a suitor, it was used to say that "she had a filarino" (which you could loosely translate as having a little spinning?😅).
It is a saying that is heard just from old people nowadays, because young generations have lost the tradition of spinning and spindle gifting.
But I find it so romantic ❤️
This is an antique italian drop spindle (not a replica) from my personal collection. It has been cleaned and waxed, but presents the sign of times. Please refer to the details!
You use it like you would do with a Turkish spindle, with a half knot on top to hold the thread you are spinning - the notch on top ensures that the knot doesn’t slip.
This spindle was used for different fibers: here in the mountains, folks used to spin wool on it. On the countryside plains instead, they also cultivated hemp and spun it with these spindles.
**PRISTINE CONDITION. Also, this one is special. I only found two spindles made this way. It is much slimmer than the usual, very elongated, and the belly is sort of flattened, not completely round, which leads me to believe it was hand carved. Anyway, it’s a very unique one and I love to spin on her sister.
Size: 27cm (11in)
Weight: 31gr
A bit of lore…
It was a treasure for every girl and woman, especially in a farmers economy, where it was essential in transforming wool into garments, in a society that was quite poor and where a wheel was a luxury.
In Italian, to spin wool is said "filare" (to make thread, more or less). During the courtship, it was tradition for the young man to gift the fiancee with a spindle. In fact, when a young girl had a suitor, it was used to say that "she had a filarino" (which you could loosely translate as having a little spinning?😅).
It is a saying that is heard just from old people nowadays, because young generations have lost the tradition of spinning and spindle gifting.
But I find it so romantic ❤️
This is an antique italian drop spindle (not a replica) from my personal collection. It has been cleaned and waxed, but presents the sign of times. Please refer to the details!
You use it like you would do with a Turkish spindle, with a half knot on top to hold the thread you are spinning - the notch on top ensures that the knot doesn’t slip.
This spindle was used for different fibers: here in the mountains, folks used to spin wool on it. On the countryside plains instead, they also cultivated hemp and spun it with these spindles.
**PRISTINE CONDITION. Also, this one is special. I only found two spindles made this way. It is much slimmer than the usual, very elongated, and the belly is sort of flattened, not completely round, which leads me to believe it was hand carved. Anyway, it’s a very unique one and I love to spin on her sister.
Size: 27cm (11in)
Weight: 31gr
A bit of lore…
It was a treasure for every girl and woman, especially in a farmers economy, where it was essential in transforming wool into garments, in a society that was quite poor and where a wheel was a luxury.
In Italian, to spin wool is said "filare" (to make thread, more or less). During the courtship, it was tradition for the young man to gift the fiancee with a spindle. In fact, when a young girl had a suitor, it was used to say that "she had a filarino" (which you could loosely translate as having a little spinning?😅).
It is a saying that is heard just from old people nowadays, because young generations have lost the tradition of spinning and spindle gifting.
But I find it so romantic ❤️