Номер объекта
81/68
Название
The Little Wanzer,
Создатель
Описание
This is a sewing machine from The Wanzer Sewing Company Limited and the model is called 'The Little Wanzer' with serial number 108157. The black metal machine sits on a marble base. The sewing platform has mother-of-pearl inlay. The 'Little Wanzer' is a shuttle machine making the lock stitch. Intended for all household sewing and its portability makes it suitable for dressmakers working at customers' houses. It also has a movable needle arm and uses a straight needle. The object is part of the Barnett Collection.
Invented in the early 19th century, the sewing machine sped up the process of making clothes both domestically and commercially. Within the home, it reduced the amount of time women spent tailoring clothes for their families, enabling them to craft more garments for sale. Due to the sewing machine, the clothing industry flourished, with different fashions becoming available for the middle classes. However, workers did not see an increase in wages and they suffered in dreadful working conditions. The demand for better wages formed an important arm of the suffragette movement.
Физическое описание
1 sewing machine: metal, marble, mother of pearl shell, ceramic
<DIV STYLE="text-align:Justify;font-family:Georgia;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:16;color:#000000;"><P><SPAN><SPAN>Part of the Barnett Collection of Sewing Machines // James Nutcombe Barnett was a University of Reading member of staff from 1964, working for the Department of Cybernetics and Engineering, until his death on October 4th 1978. The sewing machines were bequeathed to the university and became part of the Museum of English Rural Life collection in 1981. // The descriptions below include: manufacturer's name, model, use and when available a date. // ... Second Shelf // … 81/68 Wanzer, Gt. Portland St., London, 'The Little Wanzer', c. 1867</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV>
Архивная история
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: Sewing machine // Accession number: 81/68 // Classification: // Negative number: // Acquisition method: // Acquired from, date: Barnett Collection // Store: // Condition: // Recorder, date: JVB. 27.7.81 // Description: Wanzer Sewing Machine company Ltd sewing machine 'The Little Wanzer' // 'Time Utilizer' trade mark No. 108157. // Dimensions: // Associated information: 1st prize for family sewing machines awarded to the Company at Paris Exhibition 1867, York & Dudley 1866, Manchester and Cheltenham 1867. The 'Little Wanzer' is a shuttle machine making the lock stitch. Intended for all household sewing, and its portability makes it suitable for dressmakers/seamstresses working at customers' houses. Has a movable needle arm and uses a straight needle. // References: 1) The Ironmonger, January 31 1868, pink pages (not numbered) at end of issue, re. the Paris Exhibition. 2) the Ironmonger, June 30 1869 pp 474, 475 (article with illustration). // Barnett collection catalogue No 18', Citation in publication [E.J. Barnett, ‘Sewing machines: a catalogue of the Barnett collection’ ([Reading]: University of Reading, 1982] – ’18 // Wanzers and other small lock-stitch machines // All these small cast iron machines were made in the nineteenth century and worked on the long shuttle principle.’ (pp. 14), MERL Miscellaneous note – R. M. Wanzer and Co. was a rare example of a successful early sewing machine company based outside of the USA. It was established in Hamilton, Canada in 1858 and expanded, purchasing the rival Canada Sewing Machine Company in 1878. The Little Wanzer was its most famous product, manufacturing half a million by 1876 and winning a prize medal at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1867. The company employed 800 workers and sold many machines internationally, particularly to England and France. It went bankrupt in 1892. [Added by Tim Jerrome for the Barnett Project, 2022]
Наименование
Материал
Размерность
- Length 330 mm
- Height 260 mm
- Depth 160 mm