Spindle whorl (malacate)
Mexico, unspecified
Collected by Zelia Nuttall, ca. 1902-15
3-2103
Small discs of clay, wood, or gourd are used with a spindle shaft in order to spin fibers by hand. Associated with women, who were both weavers and the potters, spindle whorls come in a great variety of forms and decorations. According to one interpretation, the Aztecs regarded spinning as a female form of warfare, as the whorls were called "little shield."
The spindle whorls shown online represent the museum's collection of 389 specimens, collected by Zelia Nuttall (1857-1933) and donated by Phoebe A. Hearst in 1917. An archaeologist and ethnohistorian, Nuttall played a key role in encouraging her friend to found the anthropology museum. Nuttall gathered most of these after her move to Mexico in 1902, particularly during the Crocker-Reid expedition, 1902-05.
(Photograph 1 of 12)
Continue
|
|
