“This wheel has the initials N D stamped into the end of the bench. “
The Shaker Great Wheel
The Shaker great wheel recently acquired by the museum is a typical great wheel. This example is missing its spinning head; like all great wheels, the wheel should have a spindle. On a spindle wheel, yarn is spun off the tip of the spindle, and each turn of the spindle puts one twist into the yarn being spun. Many Shaker religious communities made furniture both for their own use and for sale to the outside world. A number of these communities also made spinning wheels. Shaker products were highly regarded for their excellent craftsmanship. This wheel has the initials N D stamped into the end of the bench. These are the initials of Nathaniel Draper, elder of the Enfield, New Hampshire Shaker community, which made wheels from 1803 to 1849.