Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID # |
1961.038.006ab |
Object Name |
Box, Needlework |
Title |
Cotton Reel Holder |
Lexicon category |
4: T&E For Materials |
Date |
c. 1870 |
Artist |
Unknown for Clark & Co. |
Made |
Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Scotland, United Kingdom |
Description |
Clark & Co. (Paisley, Scotland) cotton reel holder, c. 1870. This spool holder is round, with a fitted lid that has a convex top. The wooden container is known now by collectors as Scottish Transfer Ware (also known as Mauchline). The exterior has a transfer depicting "Alloway Kirk" (a church) and a small oval transfer shows Burns Monument at Doon. The lid also has a rick-rack-like-gilt-on-black line around the circumference, and advertising wording, also printed in black. The underside of the lid has a blue / gold /white "Clark & Co." label. The walls of the container have six holes with ivory or bone grommettes and thread sizes given with them. Inside the container are six depressions wherein reel pegs might once have been. The center interior also has a circular block of wood with a central hole. Perhaps a circular, pegged part of the container (now missing) once fitted over the spools? The underside of the container has dark blue paper on it. |
Makers mark |
The underside of the lid has a blue / gold /white "Clark & Co." label. |
Provenance |
The last owner, Eleanor Rixon, lived at 894 5th Avenue East, Owen Sound, Grey County, where her parents had moved to in the late 19th-century. Her father, Henry Rixon, emigrated from England in 1860. Her mother Helen (née Ainslie), was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam and Isabella Ainslie of Leith (they later moved to Owen Sound c. 1888 and lived with the Rixons). Ms. Rixon said that this item came from Scotland. The Rixon burial plot is at Leith Cemetery, in the former Sydenham Township, and includes the following: William Augustus Rixon (b. 1869-d. 1892) Henry Rixon (father) 1838-1920 Helen Rixon (mother) 1847-1913 Ada A. Rixon 1874-1894 Ella A. Rixon 1871-1918 Alex A. Ainslie 1850-1887 Adam Ainslie 1807-1897 Isabella Ainslie 1828-1918 John Ainslie 1858-1923 Laura Rixon 1876-1963 Eleanor Rixon Dec. 27, 1973 William M. Burr 1861-1931 Frank Broderick 1856-1915 J. Jane Broderick 1867-1933 F. Rixon Broderick 1895-1958 |
Collection |
Textiles, Needlework & Accessories Collection |
Material |
Wood/Transfer-printed Ink/Ivory?/Bone?/Paper/Glue |
Dimensions |
H-6.3 Dia-9.3 cm |
Found |
Owen Sound, Grey County |
People |
Rixon, Henry Ainslie, Isabella Rixon, Helen Rixon, Eleanor |
Subjects |
Thread Needlework Boxes Scotland |
Search Terms |
Leith (Village and area of) |
Function |
A holder for several skeins or spools of thread. The threads would each have a separate exit hole, so that tangling and handling of the thread would be reduced. It is a needleworking accessory. |