Machinery and other objects - from carding engines and looms to printing blocks and fabric specimens - tell the story of Britain's role in textile manufacturing from the Industrial Revolution onwards.
Textiles Machinery
1775
Improved spinning machine (water frame), by Sir Richard Arkwright, England, 1775.
1837
Machine used for covering wires with silk and cotton for electrical purposes, made by W T Henley, Whitechapel, London, England, 1837
c. 1846
Lockstitch sewing machine by Elias Howe, Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, made about 1846, the first sewing machine to be brought to England from America in that year.
1810
Old Spitalfields hand loom with jacquard mechanism.
1926
Toyoda Automatic Loom, type G, made in 1926.
1769
Original spinning machine, Sir Richard Arkwright and John Kay, England, 1769.
1745-1790
Portable spinning wheel, labelled 'James Webster, clockmaker, Salop', Mardol, Shrewsbury, England, 1745-1790.
1830
Copy of Barthelemy Thimonnier's chain stitch sewing machine, first invented in 1830.
1865-1883
The Singer 'New Family' lockstitch sewing machine, made between 1865 and 1883.
1857
Model, scale 1:3, of a power loom for simple plain weaving made by Messrs. Sevill and Woolstenhulme, Oldham, Manchester, England, 1857. This loom gives the most elementary kind of weaving in which weft crosses over and under the warps alternately and was the type used extensively for calico weaving. There is an arrangement for stopping the loom automatically if the shuttle does not reach its box after each pick, and if the weft should break then a weft fork device which is normally balanced to rest on the unbroken thread falls and operates cut off machinery to stop the loom.
1760-1775 probable date
Textile printing block of irregular rectangular shape, boxwood faced design with some use of metal pins; ornate column with large flowers arranged around it and probably used for soft furnishing. Made in England, probably c. 1760-1775.
Early Wheeler and Wilson hand-powered lock stitch sewing machine of a design of about 1867; this model was made around 1885.
1886-1887
Moldacot patent lockstitch sewing machine with accessories in tin case, by the Moldacot Pocket Sewing Machine Company, London, England, 1886-1887.
1867
Model of a Jacquard loom (Scale 1:2), unknown maker, 1867.
1866
Wheeler and Wilson lock stitch sewing machine, type No.1. The first machine with rotary hook and four motion feed patented by Allen B. Wilson 1851 and 1854, and made in 1866.
1842-1858
Power loom manufactured by J. Harrison and Son, Blackburn, England and fitted with the loose reed emergency stop mechanism of 1842. Exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and subsequently modified by the makers with design changes up to 1858.
1874
Saint's chain stitch sewing machine made from drawings contained in a patent granted to Thomas Saint in 1790, by Newton Wilson and Co., 1874.
1851-1855
Singer Lockstitch sewing machine model of 1851, by I. M. Singer and Company or the Singer Manufacturing Company, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 1851-1855
1771-1780
Carding machine by Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), England, 1771-1780. Believed to be from Cromford Mill, Derbyshire.
1839
Jacquard-woven picture "A la memoire de J.M. Jacquard" after the original by C. Bonnefond, in frame 20" x 14", frame 31" x 27", 1839
1867-1873
The 'Little Wanzer' lock stitch sewing machine, by the Wanzer Sewing Machine Company Ltd. (London), Great Portland Street, London, England, 1867-1873.
1945-1955
MP Handy Guide for knitting and crochet work, reg. design No. 813814; and knitting needle gauge, reg. design no. 838984. The two items were sold as a set. The guide is used by the knitter to record progress of knitting in respect of casting on/off, number of rows knitted etc. The needle gauge is used to ascertain knitting needle diameter and as a short tape measure.
1858-1862
One of five power loom shuttles, by J. Harrison and Sons, Blackburn, Lancashire, England, 1858-1862.
1872
J.Weir's chain stitch sewing machine, model no. 55S of 1872.
Closed spindle type bobbin winder for lace, with seven bobbins and a paper tape.
1915-1920
Singer double-thread chainstitch glove sewing machine, c. 1917.
1851
Reproduction of Judkin's lockstitch sewing machine made by Platt Bros & Co Ltd., Oldham, Manchester, England, shown at 1851 Exhibition.
1883
Early specimen of artificial silk made by Sir Joseph Swan, 1883; crocheted/embroidered by Lady Swan to form a border to a handkerchief, for display at Exhibition of Inventions, London 1885.
1400-1500
Coptic textile quilted blanket of linen with motifs (blue, red and brown dancers), with blue/brown borders and remains of fringe, badly stained
1908-1909
Model 66 lock stitch oscillating hook sewing machine,Branded 'Twentieth century', sectioned and mounted above a mirror, Singer Manufacturing Company, 1908-1909.
Model of strand making machine for cotton rope with 49 reel frame, unknown maker.
1890-1950
Treadle sewing machine sold by Harris Ltd, a London retail firm. Harris purchased their machines from others (in this case, the National Sewing Machine Company of Illinois) and then put their own name on them for sale. This was a common practise in the UK and elsewhere.
1976
Electric circuit board associated with a Singer Futura sewing machine, by Singer Manufacturing Company, Germany, 1976
1769-1775
Original wrap-reel or winding wheel used at Sir Richard Arkwright's mill and probably made by John Kay, Cromford, Derbyshire, England, 1769-1775.
1800-1802
Machine for winding cotton into balls, invented by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, unsigned, United Kingdom, 1800-1802. The first machine made was used at Strutts Cotton Mill. Belper.
1913-1914
Willcox and Gibbs chain stitch sewing machine, c. 1914 model.
Portion of a ring spinning frame of 44 spindles (originally 400) made by Dobson & Barlow Ltd., 1926, one side of which has been converted in 1963 to the Casablancas high draft system; object is complete with spares for conversion to original state.
1870
Original Remington Arms lock-stitch sewing machine head: the 'Empire' model of 1870, by the Remington Arms Company, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 1870.
1871
Grover and Baker two-thread chain stitch sewing machine, 1871, an improved version of an 1851 model.
patent 1853
Early lock-stitch sewing machine made in accordance with W.F. Thomas's patent of 1853
Coloured drawing depicting Lombe's silk throwing machine, scale 1:16, made at the Science Museum, London, England, 1857.
1948-1958
Cardboard box associated with the Singer model 319K lock stitch electric sewing machine, by the Singer Manufacturing Company, Kilbowie, Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, Scotland, 1948-1958. Box contains eleven small metal components
Model (scale unknown) of a contemporary ribbon loom using the Jacquard principles, complete with accessories, designed and made by James Heywood, Coventry, England, 1870.
1732
Remains of the models of silk machinery introduced from Italy by Sir Thomas Lombe, Derby, England, c. 1732; the remains being: a reel, three spindles with bobbins and flyers and a segment of a circular frame, all half size.
1750-1830
Textile printing block, wood, rectangular, with a boxwood face, pins and metal strips forming a fern pattern. Made in England, 1750-1830.
Relief moulded decoration made by methods used for textile printing blocks
1910-1950
Child's chain stitch Singer model 20 sewing machine first introduced in 1910.
1730-1800
Model of a handloom (as used previous to the invention of the fly shuttle in 1733), made 1730-1800.
1939
Bobbin box belonging to a Northrop single-shuttle 'S' loom with automatic bobbin insertion, 1939.
1861-1868
Lock-stitch treadle sewing machine of the Wheeler Wilson type, by Newton Wilson and Co., High Holborn, London, England, 1861-1868.
