Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Spindle Whorl
Spindle Whorl

Spindle Whorl

Datec. 1840-1860
DimensionsOverall: 7 × 3/4 × 7 1/4 in. (17.8 × 1.9 × 18.4 cm)
Object numberT0767
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe figures on this spindle whorl may represent serpents or mythical sea beings. Wool gathered from mountain goats and dogs was spun and plied with the use of a spindle whorl. A thin wooden shaft approximately 2 feet long served as the spindle. The whorl was mounted near the middle of the spindle. The whorl functioned somewhat like a flywheel, increasing the inertia of the turning spindle.
ProvenanceBushell's Auction, Seattle, Washington; John McKillop, Seattle, Washington; George Terasaki, New York City; private collection, New York City
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.309.

Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 326.
On View
Not on view
Rooster
Unidentified Artist
1845-1855
Fish
Unidentified Artist
c. 1870
Bag
Odawa or cultural relatives
c. 1790
Mask
Salish
1870-1900
Cradle
Thompson River
c. 1880
Jar
Taos or Picuris
c. 1875
Ferris Wheel
John Scholl
1900-1916
Cider Making on Long Island
William M. Davis
c. 1870
Club
Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka)
1600-1800
1850s Farm House
c. 1850-1859
Feast Bowl Fragment
Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)
c. 1890
Bowl
Coast Tsimshian or Nishga or Southern Tlingit
1800-1840

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

close

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required