1800s Lazy Kate Yarn Holder Mortise and Tenon Construction

* Antique Item

This handmade, antique yarn winder is known as a lazy kate, named for the servant it was meant to replace, much like a "lazy susan." Lazy kates hold one or more bobbins or spools while yarn is wound from them. The spools sit on rods which allow them to spin.

The person who created this kate could have just made simple, straight top and sides, but instead used decorative curves and angles that made it so much more charming. Its mortise and tenon construction, where a projecting tongue of wood (the tenon) fits into the mortise (a corresponding hole in the opposite piece of wood), is the strongest way to join two pieces of wood. There are also scribe marks (shown) that guided the placement of the various pieces.

Found in Connecticut and made of black maple, the winder stands 12 inches tall on a rectangular base that measures 11 inches by 5 inches. The base has a pencil signed name and the piece also came with a handwritten card which reads "To wind woolen thread on after spinning." (We'll send it along.) There are two removable rods that hold one bobbin. It weighs 1 1/4 pounds and is in every good condition, with a narrow split in the wood of the bottom that runs full-length. It appears stable and does not show on the top of the 1 inch thick plank that forms the base. It displays handsomely, making it an interesting addition to a sewing/craft room and to country/ farmhouse settings.


PYH 4854