Hatchel

Title:

Flax Comb

Object Name:

Hatchel

Creator:

Isaac Batchelder

Date:

19thcentury

Material:

Maple?, iron

Dimensions:

H-4.75 L-21 Dia-7 inches

Description:

Flax comb with square edges with 36 iron spikes arranged in a rectangular pattern in center; small metal loop on either side; straight handle with flared end terminating in a roundel with hole in center; "IB" carved on top.

Provenance:

Made and owned by Isaac Batchelder of Deerfield, NH. Later owned and then gifted by Captain W.L. Willey.

Flax would be harvested and the stems were left to dry as the woody part within the step is what becomes the raw ingredient for flax fabric. Once it had been dried and beaten a few times, the broken fibers were used on a flax brush, also called a hechel. A hechel is a bed of sharp, long-tapered, polished steel pins called nails driven into wooden blocks at regular spacing. This process was repeated with several different hechels as farther spaced nails removed the straw while closer spaced nails would split and polish the woody fibers.

Subjects:

Hetchel, Combs

People:

Willey, William Lithgow

Place of Origin:

Deerfield, New Hampshire

Collection Name:

Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Hampshire

Item Number:

1990.039

Accession Number:

1990.039

Type of Material:

Objects

Copyright Statement:

For information regarding copyright, permissions, and reproductions contact the American Independence Museum

Credit Line:

Gift of Captain W. L. Willey

Participating Organization:

American Independence Museum