Hand loom for silk-weaving with Jacquard machine

The Jacquard loom, developed by the Frenchman Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) in 1804, enabled a loom to weave patterned cloth. This is a Spitalfields hand loom, made by Guillotte, for weaving silk. It is fitted with a Jacquard machine which is hand-operated to select the healds to be raised or lowered once the operator presses the treadle to form the thread. The loom to which the Jacquard mechanism is attached is from about 1840.

The loom was given to the Science Museum by Messrs Warner and Sons in 1914 when the firm was at the height of its activity at New Mills in Braintree, Essex.

Credit: Warner and Sons
Object no: 1914-469