Cantilevered Open-back Loom

This loom style, while relatively rare in the southern mountains, was very common in central Pennsylvania among German groups. A significant German population also migrated into the Appalachian region, which probably explains how this loom came to Ashe County, North Carolina.

This loom is decoratively made and features a built-in bench for the weaver. Constructed of pine, it has only two foot pedals or treadles and two shafts or harnesses-the horizontal frames that are suspended from the loom superstructure. The two treadles and shafts indicate that the loom was only used to create plain woven cloth. The only decorative textiles which could have been made on this type of loom would have been striped or plaid. This loom probably dates pre-1850, and may be eighteenth century. The graffiti on the loom is testimony to the fact that, until recently, large handlooms were not considered valuable.

Linen Textile

Linen was a common fabric on the frontier, produced from the flax plant. Flax was cut, "retter" (soaked in water to separate the woody part of the plant from the fiber), "swingled" (beaten and scraped clean), and then combed before being spun into thread. The fabric on the loom is a plain weave, which has an "over one, under one" structure. The heddles --- the string which rides freely on the shafts and have eyes through which the warp thread passes --- determine the fitness of the cloth which could be woven on this loom. This is because the thickness of the string used to make the heddles determines how closely they can be spaced and consequently, how closely the warp threads are also spaced.