Hopi man spinning yarn

Portrait of a Hopi man, sitting on a blanket, spinning yarn using a spindle whorl. According to James Stevenson's original note for this photograph (prepared circa 1885), the photograph shows 'the manner of holding the spindle-whorl, while the spinner by means of a corn-cob reduces the yarn to a more uniform size. When the yarn is thus made smoothe and even, the whorl is taken up by the right hand and passed between that and the thigh, the yarn is allowed to be taken up on the upper end of the shaft, when the first operation is again repeated.'

Due to the nature of these images, prints will reproduce any signs of age, wear or damage that occurred before they were archived by the Pitt Rivers Museum.