Spindle Whorl

Not on view

Spindle whorls aided in the making of thread by maintaining the momentum of the spindle. This red-brown bone semi-spherical shaped spindle whorl was excavated at Nishapur. It has a raised rim around its central hole and is decorated with four incised motifs of a large dot-in-circle, each surrounded by three small dot-in-circles and dots. Hundreds of spindle whorls were excavated at Nishapur, providing further evidence that the city possessed a thriving textile industry. Their incised designs exhibit a wide variety of motifs ranging from geometric forms to zoomorphic figures.

Spindle Whorl, Bone; tinted, incised, and inlaid with paint

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.