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.
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.
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.
1926
Toyoda Automatic Loom, type G, made in 1926.
1769
Original spinning machine, Sir Richard Arkwright and John Kay, England, 1769.
1837
Machine used for covering wires with silk and cotton for electrical purposes, made by W T Henley, Whitechapel, London, England, 1837
1810
Old Spitalfields hand loom with jacquard mechanism.
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.
1867
Model of a Jacquard loom (Scale 1:2), unknown maker, 1867.
Early Wheeler and Wilson hand-powered lock stitch sewing machine of a design of about 1867; this model was made around 1885.
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.
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
1886-1887
Moldacot patent lockstitch sewing machine with accessories in tin case, by the Moldacot Pocket Sewing Machine Company, London, England, 1886-1887.
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.
Model of strand making machine for cotton rope with 49 reel frame, unknown maker.
1872
J.Weir's chain stitch sewing machine, model no. 55S of 1872.
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.
1883
Lock stitch sewing machine head representing the final form of the Howe machine, by the Howe Machine Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States, 1883 model.
1851
Reproduction of Judkin's lockstitch sewing machine made by Platt Bros & Co Ltd., Oldham, Manchester, England, shown at 1851 Exhibition.
1745-1790
Portable spinning wheel, labelled 'James Webster, clockmaker, Salop', Mardol, Shrewsbury, England, 1745-1790.
Coloured drawing depicting Lombe's silk throwing machine, scale 1:16, made at the Science Museum, London, England, 1857.
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.
1601-1700
17th century spindle wheel
1750-1830
23 wood blocks for printing chintz and calico with English designs typical of the period, by unknown maker, England, 1750-1830. Each block consists of a mahogany or oak base with a thin face of more expensive boxwood. The pattern is drawn on reverse on the boxwood and then cut. By about 1900 block printing had largely been superceded by rotary printing.
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.
1871
Grover and Baker two-thread chain stitch sewing machine, 1871, an improved version of an 1851 model.
1858-1862
One of five power loom shuttles, by J. Harrison and Sons, Blackburn, Lancashire, England, 1858-1862.
patent 1853
Early lock-stitch sewing machine made in accordance with W.F. Thomas's patent of 1853
Silk printing block mounted on a wooden stand.
Double-thread chain-stitch sewing machine, with needle-bar feed and winder; patented by G. Whight, 1861
1867-1886
Lockstitch sewing machine, made by the Howe Machine Co., 1876-1886
1908-1909
Model 66 lock stitch oscillating hook sewing machine,Branded 'Twentieth century', sectioned and mounted above a mirror, Singer Manufacturing Company, 1908-1909.
Record hand knitter no. E24648, in box purchased Messrs Nicholson Ltd, St. Pauls Yard, London 8.11.54
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
Straw splint mill
1867-1873
The 'Little Wanzer' lock stitch sewing machine, by the Wanzer Sewing Machine Company Ltd. (London), Great Portland Street, London, England, 1867-1873.
Closed spindle type bobbin winder for lace, with seven bobbins and a paper tape.
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
1000-1100
Coptic fragment of white linin with red, green, black and gold motifs of dragons and interlacing designs across the middle, in glass mount, Copt, Egypt, 1000-1100.
1880-1890
The original bobbin-net machine designed and constructed by Samuel Blackmore in 1880 but without some fittings (used on object /1).
1805
Model (scale 1:6) for printing textiles from engraved copper plate, made by Henry Maudslay, Lambeth, London, England, 1805.
1877-1904
Willcox and Gibbs chainstitch sewing machine, made by Brown and Sharpe under the brand name Willcox and Gibbs Sewing Machine Company, 1877-1904.
1950
Passap M 201 flat bed domestic knitting machine, c. 1950; complete with accessories and operating instructions.
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.
1913-1914
Willcox and Gibbs chain stitch sewing machine, c. 1914 model.
1800-1820
Model of a teasing mill, also known as a gig-mill, for raising the fibres of woollen cloth, reputed to be 18th century (scale 1:8).
1939
Bobbin box belonging to a Northrop single-shuttle 'S' loom with automatic bobbin insertion, 1939.
1870
Original Remington Arms lock-stitch sewing machine head: the 'Empire' model of 1870, by the Remington Arms Company, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 1870.
