In the last post I looked at making singles of linen for plying. Plying involves twisting two or more single strands of fibre together to make the yarn stronger. And in a post, long ago, I explored twizzling that whirl to
ply and looked at different whirl types. But is there anything more we can say about plying?
Well, in ancient Egypt, and other countries in the ancient near east, there were these things (left). They are usually made of pottery, are bowl-shaped and have an internal 'handle' or loop.
The first two pictured here are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (above is 15.3.99). The one above is actually made of limestone and was found in a grave (sometimes items found in graves which were normally made from pottery are made of stone- permanence for eternity).
These are commonly called spinning bowls. Many date to the Middle Kingdom (2400-1782 BC), but there are similar items from Tell el-Farkha which date to c. 3000 BC, and others like the one on the left are more modern. Those from Tell el-Farkha have grooves on the undersides of the loops.
Such items are commonly said to have held balls of linen yarn with the thread travelling under an internal loop and then out. They may have been used for keeping spliced singles of linen taught for plying.
Barber, referencing Tsoboi, also shows this illustration used in the manufacture of nettle fibre in Japan in the early 1980s.
As you can see it was described as a wetting bowl. It was important to keep the nettle damp when it was spun. So, the bowl contained a ball of nettle fibre and water. Again, it is possible that the ancient Egyptians used their similar bowls to keep fibre wet.
There is more than one reason why one might want to ply wet. Firstly, it helps make sure the spliced strands stick together. Spinning flax wet also makes it easier to get a smooth finish to the thread, rather than a hairy one. Finally, linen is stronger wet than dry, allowing it to hold together more, especially if one wants to put a string twist in the ply. Ancient Egyptian yarns seem often to have had a high level of twist. A high level of twist is also important in natural pleating, a method probably used by the ancients. You can see a
video explaining natural pleating here.
Indeed, modern spinners will wet their hands with water or spittle to keep the fibre moist. Wheels used for spinning flax often had a container of water on them, or the water might be kept by the wheel. Furthermore, it is said that saliva may be better than water as it contains an enzyme, amylase, which dissolves the starch in flax and then when the starch dries it forms a stronger bond. In
this video you can see women in the Pyrenees eating sloe berries prior to spinning hemp to help the production of saliva.
There is also a Grimms fairy tale about three sisters who were spinsters. One had a foot made large from treadling, another had a large thumb from twisting the fibre and the third had a huge lip which hung down to her chest from constantly wetting the flax thread. You can see them here.
But, returning to the spinning bowl, as well as water, the bowls may have held size to further strengthen the thread and to keep the thread smooth. These two factors would have been particularly important if the thread was used for warping a loom. The warp threads are those which are held under tension and can also be subject to the constant beating used in placing weft threads. The latter can abrade them. Size can be made of starch boiled to make a paste, it can be made of gelatine, and also from boiled flax seeds.
Further Reading
Barber E. G. 1991. Prehistoric textiles: The development of cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with special reference to the Aegean, Princeton and Oxford, (p. 73. Refers to Japanese bowls).
Dothan, T. 1963. Spinning Bowls, Israel Exploration Journal , Vol. 13, No. 2 (1963), pp. 97-112.
Richards, A. 2020. Weaving Textiles that Shape Themselves, Ramsbury, 44-46.
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