Dark Green, Red and White Paint Decorated Maple and Poplar Yarn Reeler, Southeastern Pennsylvania, dated 1821

Inscribed on top of base, paint: 1821 x N 45.

M. Austin and Jill R. Fine, Baltimore;
Sotheby’s New York, "Americana from the Collection of M. Austin and Jill R. Fine," January 30, 1987, lot 836

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 180, fig. 150

Some minor abrasions and rough edges on spools, appropriate to age and use.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Specialized craftsmen such as wood turners were often the makers of yarn reels, or wheels, an essential measuring apparatus used in the spinning and weaving of various domestic textiles. Cabinet- and chair-makers who fashioned furniture with turned components, such as Windsor chairs, are also known to have produced yarn reels and spinning wheels for their clients. This finely turned, decorated yarn reel utilizes plank-and-turned elements with mortise-and-tenon joinery and follows the basic mechanical form and construction of most late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth-century examples produced in Pennsylvania.
The individual spokes of the six-armed, rotating wheel are anchored centrally into a turned hub post and terminate in turned reels.¹ A threaded axle or shaft-wood or iron-is seated in this hub and passes into the box supporting the wheel. This threaded shaft engages a gear positioned inside the box, which, in turn, engages a measuring gear or dial resembling a simple clock mechanism. This mechanism-comprising an inked paper dial and metal hand on this example-can be set to gauge specific lengths of yarn to be wound and measured. A tapered wooden or metal lever, often called a "weasel," is set against the teeth of the measuring gear. As the operator rotates the larger wheel clockwise with the handle anchored into one of its spokes at its midpoint, the finished wool, linen, or cotton yarn being wound around its circumference is straightened and measured. As the wheel turns, the engaged gears rotate, placing tension on the tapered end of the weasel. When the desired setting is reached, the pressure forces the weasel to slip out of the gear, making a cracking or popping sound. From this signal evolved the expression "pop goes the weasel."
While the maker of this reel remains unidentified, the inscription included in its decoration suggests that by 1821 he had completed forty-five such reels for his clients. Its decorative elements-colored-edge chip carving, painted pinwheels laid out with point and compass, two-color tree-of-life motifs with dot patterning, and brush-applied red, yellow, and black rings on the turnings-are all found across a wide range of painted furniture produced within both Germanic and English communities of Pennsylvania craftsmen. In particular, several turned spinning wheels and yarn reels survive with similar painted rings on their turnings and chip-carved edges, signed by James Fuchs (c. 1785-C. 1862), a Berks County turner and Windsor chairmaker.²-J.L.L.

¹ The average circumference of a six-armed wheel approximates two yards.
² One example is in the collection of the Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, Pa.