Furniture Part (Bed)

Furniture part, tapers to tang at end with grooves, probably from a bed. The skill of wood turning was widely practiced during the Roman period in Egypt. It developed rapidly across the ancient world for it gave craftsmen the opportunity to mass produce quality work it a relatively short time. The technique of rotating timber against a cutting edge possibly developed directly from craftsmen using the bow-drill. Craftsmen using the bow-drill. Early lathes would rotate the work, possibly by hand, intermittently in alternative directions, with ropes. It was not until 1772 that turning between centres was made to revolve continuously by the use of a rope from a flywheel turned by hand. This turned spindle would have been supported at each end by a cut spigot. The turning has produced a very slender profile. The incised work and general form of the spindle suggest that the craftsman had to use a variety of shaped cutting edge chisels. The parallel sides of the spindle show the characteristic cutting pattern, of long exposed grain lines, that is achieved by use of a wide faced scraper. In contrast the incised work shows evidence of a parting tool being used an a gouge would have created the curved surfaces.From the most earliest of ages Egyptian carpenters worked cylindrical timbers by hand. The ancient lathe, although primitive in form, allowed them to explore new type of construction which was lighter and more precise in its form. CONDITION NOTE (1998): Incomplete, worn, surface dirt, discolouration, some loss.