68/411

A wooden comb with three rows of iron teeth. It was used for combing wool so that it could be spun into yarn. This comb is part of the Sharp Collection.

1 comb: wood, metal

The Sharp Collection of agricultural and dairying equipment was compiled by Reverend C. J. Sharp at Wonersh, Surrey. Reverend Sharp died in 1967 and the Museum acquired the Collection for £60 in 1968., MERL ‘Handwritten Catalogue’ form – ‘COMB // 68/411 // CRAFTS Textile cloth combing // SHARP COLLECTION see file 68/31 // Wood // Iron // Condition: wood chipped // Rust', Miscellaneous article, p.15 – ‘The combing of wool to produce a long smooth yarn was the last major process to be mechanised. The early fourteenth-century illustrations show combing to have been a woman’s task; later it was undertaken by men, who spent long hours wielding heavy combs in workshops filled with the fumes from the charcoal-filled pots in which they heated the steel teeth of their implements. The photograph shows a reconstructed combing shop of the late eighteenth century. The woolcomber used two combs, each with several rows of teeth. One comb was fixed to a post and the other was swung against it. He then drew the fibres into a long sliver, passing it through a horn disc to keep the diameter uniform. About twenty slivers were formed into a ‘top’, one of which can be seen in the basket.’

Wood, Metal

Sharp (Collector)