Antique Hard Maple Flax Break

Item Details

An antique hard maple flax break, circa 1883, used to process flax for making linen. This wood tool is a set of intersecting wooden blades that force the hard outer shell of flax straw to snap into short sections which then fall away from the strong inner fibers before being processed further. The break has two blades pointing down and three pointing up, ‘breaking,’ or causing the core to fall away from the stalk of flax when the dull, wooden hinged blade strikes down on the stalk; the stalks are repositioned and struck again. The remaining linen fibers are then processed and woven into cloth. The stalk, after undergoing this process, is referred to as being ‘scutched’ or ‘swingled.’ The blades sit in a wood housing which is supported by two wide, sturdy, curved bracket legs to either end. A stretcher bar runs between the two brackets; this was back-breaking work and the stretcher may have been used as a foot rest while working. The top of the blade is painted with a delicate arabesque of blue vines and flowers. The bracket legs are painted in a Pennsylvania Dutch style with blue flowers and decorative lines. Across the front of the break is written a name or place name in ‘low’ German in a Gothic calligraphic script, with the date ‘1883.’ A very unique and unusual antique.

Condition

Condition is consistent with age and use.

Dimensions

Item #

15LEX110-097