Tool (for needlework) (Tatting shuttle)

Description

This early-20th century tatting shuttle is made of celluloid, a man-made plastic material. Tatting is a type of craft done by making a series of small knots using a shuttle such as this one. The shuttle holds thread wound around a bobbin in its center, and the tatter holds a large loop of the thread in one hand and moves the shuttle back and forth through the loop with their other hand, making and tightening knots as they go. This shuttle has a pointed hook at one end, which the tatter could use to help join segments of tatting together or to undo knots if they make a mistake. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.