Portable spinning wheel, labelled 'James Webster, clockmaker, Salop', Mardol, Shrewsbury, England, 1745-1790.

This is a portable form of the flax-spinning wheel made by James Webster (f. 1768), of Mardol, Shrewsbury. Webster (b. 1714) established a clock-making business in Mardol in 1740, and worked until 1799. The distaff and bobbin are supported on a turned spindle in a wooden base with two horns by which it could be strapped to the waist, so that the machine could be used by a person walking. The distaff can be clamped at any angle by a wing nut. The flier is driven by a handle and gearing in the ratio of 6:1, and the retardation in speed of the bobbin necessary to put in the twist is obtained by the friction of a cord over the bobbin, wound round a peg in the spindle.