Hebridean Spinning Wheels
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of 17 spinning wheels of which eight relate to the Hebridean islands through provenance and places of use. The collection of St Kildan correspondence in Glasgow Museums clearly indicates that Hebridean islanders did not make wheels but imported them from other places, such as Glasgow. The spinning wheel collection includes 4 examples from St Kilda. They are commonly made of wood and metal and have wheels with 12 – 15 spokes in them. Other examples of Hebridean wheels with known provenances include one from Harris, one made of wood, metal and string, and with a 12 spoked wheel, and an 18th century spindle which complements the wheel. The Saxony type wheels in the collection may also relate to Hebridean wheels as they are of a type that was used, such as one used by a St Kildan. The collection was begun in the mid 1880s and represents Glasgow museum’s interest in collecting and representing Scottish industries, rural life and types of wheel. This interest continued into the 1890s, and the early years of the 20th century, to be renewed once again between the 1950s and 1980s.
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