Topic: Linen Smoother 1840 or 16th / 17th century - Gribdae Farm Kirkudbright

[flying free]

I've done quite a lot of research on this piece and a piece I own and wondered if anyone out there had any more information on linen smoothers from 1841 or earlier please?

This piece is in the Stewartry Museum Kirkudbright in Scotland.

http://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/lives-in-key-periods/archaeology/early-medieval-(400ad-1099ad)/vikings/domestic/linen-smoother,-gribdae-farm.aspx

Currently listed in that collection as:
Period:  Early Medieval
Description:  A glass linen smoother of possible Norse type found in a cairn on Gribdae Farm, Kirkcudbright parish.
Place of Discovery:  Gribdae Farm
Source:  The Stewartry Museum
Accession number: 2006
Digital Number: SWAK012


Research reason -  My piece is remarkably similar down to the texture on the handle v the smooth glass of the 'foot' of the smoother and mine also came from the Solway Firth.  So I think it's possible  there might be a link.

As far as I can tell there is a dispute over the dating of this piece in the Stewartry Museum collection:
- The museum has it as early Medieval
- It was displayed at the Glasgow exhibition in 1911 dated by the information given if I understand it correctly, as Viking, and accepted as that period for the exhibition from what I can see.

However in this archeological information archive dated I think to 1954-1956(?)(Proceedings of the Society pp 226) the dating has been questioned as follows: 
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_088/88_226_227.pdf

'...The linen smoother of very dark green glass, with a handle, also shown on
PL XLIV, has already been recorded in these Proceedings(.7.' XV, 192.).  It was desribed in that
account, dated 1881, as " found about forty years ago in digging a drain at Gribdae,"
a farm in Kirkcudbright parish (Nat. Grid ref. 25/730504), and is still in the
Stewartry Museum.(His note 8. Reg. no. 2006. This is obviously the same as the linen smoother lent to the Scottish Exhibition
of National History, Art and Industry held in Glasgow in 1911, where it was placed with Viking relics;
cf. Palace of History, II, 806, no. 441.)
 The account goes on to state that during subsequent draining operations at Gribdae an old drain was found beneath a cairn of stones, and seems to imply connection between the cairn and the linen smoother. The Stewartry Museum register has a much more specific entry—an "Ancient Linen Smoother found in a cairn which had evidently been raised over a place of sepulture on the farm of Gribdae."

Taken by itself the register entry, though terse, is conclusive, and was obviously accepted as proof of the Viking origin of the linen smoother by the organisers of the Scottish Exhibition held in Glasgow in 1911. However, the account given in the Proceedings mentioned above shows that the register entry rests upon very insecure evidence, and may therefore be rejected.

There is, in fact, little doubt that glass linen smoothers with handles are relatively modern; Dr Harden has
kindly drawn my attention to their manufacture at Woodchester Glass House, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, in the 17th century;
 1 no doubt there were other centres of manufacture.


I am indebted to Mr G. E. Paterson, Curator and Honorary Secretary of the
Stewartry Museum Association, for permission to publish this note, and to Mr R.
Roddam, of Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, for the photograph of the two
linen smoothers. I am especially grateful to Dr D. B. Harden, Keeper of the
Department of Antiquities in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, for his kind help
and advice.
J. G. SCOTT.'

So, it's the penultimate paragraph in that account that interests me with regard the dating:

1) It might be reasonable as a start point to think that if it were given in 1881 with the information that it had been found about 40 years earlier buried, then it might at the latest made in 1841. 

2) That penultimate paragraph in J. G. Scott's account mentions them as being 'relatively modern':

'There is, in fact, little doubt that glass linen smoothers with handles are relatively modern; Dr Harden has
kindly drawn my attention to their manufacture at Woodchester Glass House,
near Stroud, Gloucestershire, in the 17th century; no doubt there were other centres of manufacture.'

However what is meant by 'relatively modern'? He goes on to say that his attention has been drawn to the fact they were made in the 17th century.  Therefore, I assume what he means by 'relatively modern' is by a comparison to the Viking era, rather than 'modern' meaning 'contemporary'.

He has also put another comment in his note 6:
'6. I am indebted to Dr D. B. Harden for drawing my attention to flve similar objects, all of variegated
glass, in the Ashmolean Museum. These are presumably linen smoothers; though nothing is known of
their origin, they appear to be recent and, if so, cannot but cast doubt upon the Viking origin of any
linen smoother found unaccompanied by other objects of Viking age. ...'

I can't read anything into the part '... they appear to be recent ...' .  I don't know if he means recent in the same way as he meant 'relatively modern' i.e. possibly in comparison to Viking age, or whether he means 'recent' as in nearer in date to 1954-1956 when that piece was written.

So, I have the Woodchester glass book by J. Stuart Daniels and on plate IV at the back of the book, items 20, 21 and 22 show a part foot a handle and another part foot of a linen smoother from Woodchester Glasshouse.  Woodchester Glasshouse appears to date from  c.1590  to c.1615.(ref pg 2 Woodchester Glasshouse J. Stuart Daniels).

If the Gribdae Farm smoother and mine are contemporary to those in the book then it is possible that the Gribdae Farm one is not Viking but possibly early 17th century.  It is also possible given the similarities of mine previously mentioned to the one from Gribdae Farm, that mine might also date to a similar period.

This is as far as I have got.
I have read extensively around Viking pieces so don't need any information on those. 
I have also read extensively around 1800s references and found references to ribbon smoothers going back to around 1820 iirc (lost all my research) and possibly a reference to late 1700s for the ribbon smoother.  But I have no further information on whether they were stone or glass and what shape i.e. with or without a handle at the moment as I will have to refind those references. 

What I am trying to work out is:
a)  was this made in the early 1800s around 1840 ish when it appeared to have been found buried (wouldn't someone have smelled a rat or recognised it was more recent in 1911? or even in 1881 when it was donated to the museum?)
or
b)instead of dating to the Viking era (which it was accepted into the exhibition as being) does it actually date to around 1600.

If anyone has a particular interest in these or is able to shed any light on the type of glass around in 1590/1600 I would be grateful.

Thanks
m

p.s. I have tried it on a piece of damp antique linen and it works well   Presumably for smaller pieces though as wouldn't like to iron a sheet with it 

[Paul S.]

hello m.......   the following might possibly be of interest to you.

In 1967 an academic by the name of G. H. Kenyon produced a volume entitled 'The Glass Industry of the Weald' -  an area within the south of England covering the ancient forest areas of Sussex and Surrey, which during the late medieval period is known to have been occupied by a number of small itinerant glass houses centred mainly on Chiddingfold, and operational from the C14 to C17.         There is some evidence to suggest that the original families who started glass making here might have been from Germany or France, so maybe they brought glass making skills with them, and perhaps a linen smoother was one the necessities of late medieval living.            The glass industry in this area seems to have come to an end with the prohibition of wood-firing for the glass furnaces in the C17, when workers were forced to use coal.

One of these Weald locations was a small two hearth furnace - only fifty yards apart so it seems the archeologists count this area as one furnace  -  at an area known as Wisborough Green in West Sussex (site No. 23 in Kenyon's book).        On plate XVI (16) together with other fragments of bottles etc., there is item No. 6 with the caption  "Handle, probably for a linen-smoother, from site No. 23).         It has the usual slightly bobbin-turned shape, but as the captions says, it is missing the mushroomed head, although there would seem no reason to doubt it was originally a smoother or lace/linen dabber.     Kenyon's site No. 23 has been dated to somewhere around 1570 - 1600, so looks to be right at the very end of what is called the medieval period, I think -  the 'handle' shown on plate 16 has picked up some iridescence along the way as you'd expect, so difficult to assess its original colour, but possibly a typical darkish bottle greenish/brown.

Wilkinson shows a 'dark green handled linen or lace dabber, with similar shaped handle to the Wisborough Green example, and appears to be saying it dates to the fine lace period of the C18.

In 'The History of Glass' by Dan Klein and Ward Lloyd - page 47 - these authors repeat much of Kenyon's information on the history of the Wealden glass industry, and confirm that glass making in that area was started somewhere in the C13 by French emigrees and they state that the Chiddingfold location became the most important medieval glass making centre in England  etc. etc. etc., ......   "the most common objects made in England included glass lamps for both secular and ecclesiastical use; broad, horizontal-rimmed urinals with either tubular or conical neck; green glass bottle up to 23cm (9 in) high with a long, tapering, often ribbed neck spreading rim and concave base; items that may have been 'linen-smoothers', shaped like a mushroom cap etc. etc. etc.
These authors don't comment specifically on dates for the smoothers, but since their book was published in 1984, it's probable that they were simply using information from Kenyon's book.

So, as far as England is concerned we may have smoothers or lace dabbers etc. dating to C13 or C14 (possibly late ish in this period).

I find it hard to visualize these domestic items being used by Vikings  -  I appreciate they created some impressive jewellery, but lace and linen smoothers I'm struggling with.

[flying free]

They used them on boards in the Viking era, they didn't have handles at that time, (so were just the foot, a 'slicken stone' ) and were held in the hand and rubbed the linen over a board
I'll find some pictures for you.

Then, at a later date, they grew handles.  Like mine and the one in the museum.

I think they must have been used for small items,so the ribbon (ribband) smoother reference I found, along with instructions on how to clean the ribbon, fits well with being smaller items. 
Mine has been well used.  I will post some pics when I get time.
m

[flying free]

and sorry, how rude of me, thank you for taking the time to type up all that information and look it up for me.
I appreciate it.
m

[flying free]

Paul, here is a reference for you with picture of board and stone and a bit more detail 
http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-043-838-C

Another picture of a broken item - I think I read also that they may have been used for shining linen.  Certainly when I tried it on damp linen it made the surface sleek and sheeny, but I can't imagine using them (even with the whole day of time on your hands) to 'iron' something larger than a small ish area.

http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Valhalla-Loom-Weights-Linen-Smoother-800x534.jpg

and here the British museum describe a broken one missing it's handle and appear to be dating it 1650-1750
and do mention they were used for glossing linen
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/236471

m

[Paul S.]

thanks for the pix and extra info m   ...............   very interesting.

[flying free]

There is a reference here that I cannot open (snippet view) that appears to state the following:

'Holme's spelling is consistent with medieval usage, but slickstone was the form of the word used by the Company, and by Mrs Haywood in 1771, when flint slickstones had largely superceded those of bottle-glass.  The earliest evidence for flint-glass slickstones seems to be a "small" example in the British ...' (and there endeth the snippet view)
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eQ3yAAAAMAAJ&q=slickstone+riband&dq=slickstone+riband&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXjLTyuNnRAhVD2xoKHX3bA8sQ6AEIGjAA

So ... I think that came from the Journal of the Society of Glass Technology vol 22 1938.
hmm, perhaps bottle glass slickstones (like mine and the one in the Stewartry museum) were generally pre 1771 then?

Then there is this:

A book dated 1811 but I thought I had found the same reference in earlier books dating to c.1780s but might have made that up.
The Female Instructor; Or Young Woman's companion: pp 365 under the para 'To Clean Ribbons'  there is a description of smoothing them using a glass slick-stone. 

This para is copied from earlier volumes of 'housekeeping' type journals and I am sure I found one going back to 1786.  So... it's not possible to know whether it was just repeatedly copied regardless of whether they really were still in use or not.  I seem to recall getting to a slightly later volume perhaps 1820s and that para had been taken out by then interestingly.
Ah, this volume is 1865 and the cleaning of ribbons has been taken out but sleekstones still feature in the cleaning of chintz - page 195
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=avlAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA195&dq=holme+sleekstone&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidqJCdxNnRAhWpKcAKHW51AXwQ6AEIODAE#v=onepage&q=holme%20sleekstone&f=false


I have also read that they were used for smoothing the inside of hats in hatmaking.


m

[flying free]

York Museums Trust has a date of 1750-1850 for these two dark glass pieces:

http://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/collections/search/item/?id=45001532&search_query=bGltaXQ9MTYmQ0wlNUIwJTVEPVNvY2lhbCtIaXN0b3J5

Which doesn't tie in with the info I gave above although that came from 1938:

''Holme's spelling is consistent with medieval usage, but slickstone was the form of the word used by the Company, and by Mrs Haywood in 1771, when flint slickstones had largely superceded those of bottle-glass.  The earliest evidence for flint-glass slickstones seems to be a "small" example in the British ...' (and there endeth the snippet view)
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eQ3yAAAAMAAJ&q=slickstone+riband&dq=slickstone+riband&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXjLTyuNnRAhVD2xoKHX3bA8sQ6AEIGjAA

So ... I think that came from the Journal of the Society of Glass Technology vol 22 1938.
hmm, perhaps bottle glass slickstones (like mine and the one in the Stewartry museum) were generally pre 1771 then?'


Knowledge may have moved on but again there is a longer reference to them here in this book by John Evans published 1897 pp441 and 442 in ' The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain' -  and it appears to be written without implying they were a 'recent' thing -
https://archive.org/stream/ancientstoneimpl00evanuoft#page/442/mode/2up/search/slickstone

And he talks about two he owns with handles being ribbed and that they are of clear and bottle green glass.
m

[flying free]

- An interesting reference in the 'Archaeological Evidence for Glassworking, Guidelines for Best Practice' dated 2011 from English Heritage,
 stating that most  from the 10th century and later are dark green or brown potash glass and showing a photograph.

pp26

https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/glassworkingguidelines/glassworking-guidelines.pdf/

'Linen smoothers, or slick stones,were used for finishing cloth. A few early examples were made from a black, lead rich glass now known to be waste slag from lead smelting (Gratuze et al 2003), which was probably imported. Most linen smoothers dating from the 10th century and later are made from dark green or brown potash glass (Fig 61); this type of ‘forest’ glass became the norm in later centuries (eg Henderson 1993).'

- But the comment from Journal of the Society of Glass Technology vol 22 1938 still appears to be the only evidence indicating that by 1771 flint glass slickstones had superseded those of bottle glass

[flying free]

Info on linen smoothers France made from glassy slag,10th century,page 337 onwards - page 337 shows an example:
https://hal.science/hal-01857178/file/AIHV_20eCongres_Pactat.pdf

and see pages 130-131 here:
http://eurominunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/9780903056618-03_ang.pdf


Description from Archeology of York 17/11 on how linen smoothers were used:
page 1775- 1779
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c62d8bb809d8e27588adcc0/t/5cc85f9fe4966b1f82dc0c9d/1556635568992/low+res+AY17-11-Textile+Production.pdf


Looks like mine:
Platt Hall - 18th century linen smoother or 19th century?  date not clear from the site
https://www.platthall.org/19221061.html
https://www.platthall.org/thursday-23-july-2020.html