Spinning Wheels & Accessories

by Michael B. Taylor, David A. Pennington

Collectors, antiques dealers, and textile tool lovers will Pennington and Taylor are back with another great book about spinning wheels, including over 350 color photos to illustrate their painstaking research. Their emphasis is the American spinning wheel from 1775-1900, with substantial sections on fancy European wheels and the accessories that textile tool collectors crave. Special sections are devoted to Shaker wheels, patent wheels, and famous makers. In addition, there is extensive coverage of chair wheels, Irish castle wheels, double flyer wheels, and an appendix with over 1000 makers and their marks. The pictured items are all from important private collections that have never been seen before.

Genres: Reference

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2004

Reviews

[Hallie Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, as long as I added a review for my mom's book, I really should include my dad's book too.

This book takes the knowledge of the top spinnning wheel nerds in the US (4, by my last count) and compiles it into an illustrated field guide. You can learn how to identify different spinning wheel types and makers, styles of wheels and regions of origin, and what all the bits and pieces of textile tools are used for. If you truly have interest in spinning wheels, just leafing through the pages of photos may make you drool.

[Pegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a Christmas gift and devoured it in no time. I'll have to go back through it many times, I'm sure. It's a little overwhelming with all the information in here. I currently have 4 antique spinning wheels I have refurbished myself, and another one waiting for me to get started on it. I'm not really a collector, but I enjoy learning what I can about the wheels I'm working with. And I really enjoy restoring these old beauties to functionality again.