Writes Classicist and volunteer Anna Reeve:
Inspired by
Leeds Museums' brilliant ‘Collections through Cake’ series, I wanted to have a go
myself! It had to be an object from the Ancient Cypriot collection, which I am
researching. I was very tempted by an ‘Astarte Tatin’, but decided to play it
safe and make ancient Cypriot gingerbread spindle whorls.
The four Cypriot
spindle whorls in the Leeds Museum collection come from Enkomi in Cyprus, and
were donated by the British Museum in 1902.
Spindle whorls
were used with spindles to turn fibres into thread, which could then be woven
into cloth. It was a labour-intensive task that would have been very
time-consuming.
This example, a
flattened cone in shape, is made of bone and decorated with concentric circles
and hatching. The design may possibly reflect the stitches used in sewing. It
dates from some time in the Late Cypriot period (1650 BC – 1050 BC).
The gingerbread is
considerably more recent in manufacture, and very unlikely to last anywhere
near as long!
Read more of Anna's research at Cypriot Art Leeds
