Wonderful Rare Antique 19th Century Horsehair Sieve made of wood and finely woven horse hair.

Held together by old, original nails. Made similarly to a pantry box with a smaller hoop of wood fitted into a larger hoop of wood with the woven horsehair mesh secured in between. A partially braided rope of horsehair attaches the two sections together. The smaller hoop is held together by three nails, two of which have split the wood. This measures approx. 8" in diameter. The larger band is held together by two nails and has a 8 1/4" diameter. Overall height is approx. 4 1/2". Written in pencil to the right of the split area is what looks like 11/R. Condition of the horsehair is very good with one small area near the inner lap of the larger portion which has worn a bit and is missing the ends of the hair. Please see the pictures. The nails appear to be original and have aged the wood around them. horse mane They are bent over to hold the wood. See Mary Earle Gould''s Early American Wooden Ware book which has a chapter on Sieves. horse tail hair She states: "The earliest type of sieve found in the old New England homes was made of hair...Taken from horses'' manes and cows'' tails. " Also "Records of Shaker Colonies state that sieve-making became an important industry beginning in 1810 in the colony at New Lebanon, New York. " Shakers sometimes used these for sifting dry paint powders.

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