A spinning wheel is a machine used for spinning.
Distaff is the name given to a machine that allows spinning (reducing a fiber to thread). This device has a rod that ends in a head where the fiber is wound. Thanks to a wheel, a crank (or a pedal) and a support that rotates, spinning can be done.
Before continuing with the definition of the term, it is important to know its etymological origin. In this sense, we can determine that it derives from the Germanic rocco , which was the word used to define an instrument used to make wool threads .
Features of the spinning wheel
Historians claim that the spinning wheel emerged about three millennia before Christ . The first were hand-powered but, starting in the 16th century , a pedal was added so that the user could have both hands free.
The essential component of the spinning wheel is the wheel , which makes the other parts of the machine work. The pedal that moves the wheel is connected to it through a transmission bar .
Mahatma Gandhi encouraged the use of the spinning wheel in his fight for Indian independence.
symbolic values
It is important to highlight that the spinning wheel has symbolic values. The image of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary working with a spinning wheel is famous, since this woman who lived in the 13th century used to spin spinning for the poor.
The spinning wheel also became a symbol of Indian independence: Mahatma Gandhi promoted a campaign for Indians to make their clothes using spinning wheels and stop buying products from the British Empire . In this way, he managed to undermine, at least in part, the interests of the English.
The spinning wheel in literature and the plastic arts
In the same way, it is interesting to highlight that the spinning wheel is also present in our cultural heritage through different stories. Thus, for example, a spinning wheel is an instrument that plays a fundamental role in the story of “Sleeping Beauty” . And it causes the young woman to get punctured and fall in a “magical” way in a dream. However, this has been a mistake that has been passed down from generation to generation since the spinning wheel does not have any type of needle.
On the other hand, a painting by Leonardo da Vinci that is lost, but has been reproduced by many painters throughout history , is known as “The Virgin of the Distaff.” In this work, Jesus is seen as a child, looking at a spinning wheel that Mary uses to spin.
Within the artistic field we cannot ignore the existence of another very internationally famous painting and a masterpiece in the history of art, in which the spinning wheels take on a lot of prominence. This is “The Spinners” ( 1657 ), made by Diego Velázquez . The National Museum of the Prado , in Madrid , is where it is exhibited, where you can see several women who are working in the workshop of the Fábrica Tapices de Santa Isabel in the capital of Spain .