Distaff
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A distaff is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax and sometimes wool, b
Queen Bertha instructing girls to spin flax on spindles using distaves, Albert Anker, 1888
Alsatian spinner with wheel and distaff
The Spinner by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1873), shown with spindle and distaff
Russian distaves displayed at the museum of folk handicrafts at Ferapontov Monastery