Floor Swift

Object/Artifact

-

Windham Textile and History Museum

New England Floor Swift: The image depicts a vintage New England floor swift, a machine for winding thread or yarn, featuring a complex arrangement of thin, vertical rods held in place by two horizontal support structures, set on a wooden base that narrows into a cylindrical form; below this apparatus, there is a measuring scale or identification marker with distinct black and white segments, displaying numbers and letters, which adds an element of historical intrigue, suggesting that this object might have been part of a collection or exhibit, possibly within a museum or academic setting, thereby potentially serving to demonstrate principles of physics, balance, or measurement to observers or students who interacted with this equipment during its time of active use.
New England Floor Swift

The image depicts a vintage New England floor swift, a machine for winding thread or yarn, featuring a complex arrangement of thin, vertical rods held in place by two horizontal support structures, set on a wooden base that narrows into a cylindrical form; below this apparatus, there is a measuring scale or identification marker with distinct black and white segments, displaying numbers and letters, which adds an element of historical intrigue, suggesting that this object might have been part of a collection or exhibit, possibly within a museum or academic setting, thereby potentially serving to demonstrate principles of physics, balance, or measurement to observers or students who interacted with this equipment during its time of active use.

Name/Title

Floor Swift

Entry/Object ID

2017.01.15

Description

New England floor swift of cross-frame type. The crosses are nailed partly with modern wire nails, partly with forged nails. This may indicate an early 19th-century date. Some of the sticks are replacements. Oak base 11" x 6" x 5" supports a 31" vertical maple or birch axle. The reel is made of two maple or birch Xs held apart by four vertical maple spokes 19" long. The vertical axle goes through a large hole in the lower X and a small hole in the upper X. A 29" oak stick notched near each end was tied to the reel but its purpose is not apparent. Base a rough-hewn, irregular oak block 11" at longest point x 6" x 5" high for 8" of length, roughly 2.5" thick for remainder where block was partially cut through and then split off. A split-out center post (axle), about 1.5" in diameter, stands in hole in block. Ten inches above the block, the post (axle) has a shoulder and continues to top with a diameter of about 5/8", pointed at top. The two Xs are made of lap jointed slats 2" x 1/2" (at center), lower x 22.25 and 21.25", upper both 18.75". All arms are tapered in thickness and width to ends. Joints nailed and with pivot hole in center. Xs joined by 4 fixed rods about midway out the arms and 4 removable wooden pins at the ends. All of the pins and one of the rods are replacements. This machine is crudely constructed, but the builder took the trouble to bevel the crosses from thick at the center to thin at the ends.

Use

A swift is a reel for winding thread or yarn.

Context

Preindustrial textile technology.

Collection

American Textile History Museum Collection

Made/Created

Artist

Unknown

Date made

circa 1800 - circa 1850

Time Period

19th Century

Place

* Untyped Place

New England

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Swift

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Winder, Yarn

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Textile Manufacturing Equipment

Nomenclature Class

Textileworking T&E

Nomenclature Category

Category 04: Tools & Equipment for Materials

Other Names and Numbers

Other Numbers

Number Type

ATHM

Other Number

1959.1.191

Dimensions

Height

35-3/4 in

Width

22-1/4 in

Length

21-1/4 in

Material

Wood, Oak, Birch, Maple, Ferrous metal

Location

Location

Room

Dunham Hall Library Reading Room

* Untyped Location

Main Museum Building

Category

Exhibit

Date

April 4, 2025

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Date Examined

Apr 4, 2025

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Donated to ATHM in 1959 as part of the S. D. Stevens Collection, although ATHM record cards also show dates 1963 and 1970.

Created By

historian@millmuseum.org

Create Date

April 4, 2025

Updated By

historian@millmuseum.org

Update Date

April 4, 2025