Machine Collection (page 26)

Glass cutters at their wheels, c1870. The vessel to be cut is held against a rotating wheel powered by steam through belt and shafting

Worsted manufacturing, c1845. A man, woman and small boy working a wheel for combing long staple wool into slivers for worsted manufacture

Carding, drawing and roving cotton, c1830. A carding engine (left) delivers cotton in a single sliver. The factory is operated by shafts and belting, which could be powered by water or steam

Weaving shed fitted with rows of power looms driven by belt and shafting, c1840

Boring the cylinder of the Britannia Press at the Bank Quay Foundry, Warrington, 1851. Boring the cylinder for the hydraulic press (lift)

Potter at work at the Wedgwoods Etruria factory, Hanley, Staffordshire, c1830. An assistant turns a wheel to operate the belt driving the potters wheel

Bells reaping machine, 1851. Artist: GH Swanston
Bells reaping machine, 1851. Scottish clergyman and inventor Patrick Bells (1799-1869) reaping machine of 1826 was the first successful reaping machine, but was not commercialised

Threshing machine by Andrew Meikle, Scottish inventor and millwright, 1811. Top: original form of the machine powered by horses. Bottom: improved form powered by a water wheel

Cutlery-making, c1750s. Plate taken from volume II of Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonne de Science, des Arts et des Metiers

Turning wood, 1754. Artist: I Hinton
Turning wood, 1754, taken from the New and Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences - Supplement (1754) by J Barlow. The plate shows two scenes of wood turning with two different kinds of treadle

Jacquard power loom, 1915. In 1801 the Frenchman Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) invented a method of weaving intricate patterns by encoding them on punched cards

John Harrison (1693-1776). Inventor of the marine chronometer in 1757, (20th century). Artist: Thomas King
John Harrison, (1693-1776). Inventor of the marine chronometer in 1757, (20th century). A self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer

Inverness-shire, Scotland, 20th century. Artist: CM Dixon
Inverness-shire, Scotland, 20th century. The county of Inverness is a historic county of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands, it is geographically Scotlands largest county

Limestone Quarry, Essex, UK, 20th century. Artist: CM Dixon
Limestone Quarry, Essex, UK, 20th century. Limestone required for commercial purposes is extracted by quarrying which creates pollution from noise and dust

Loading bales of hay, England, c1960. Artist: CM Dixon
Loading bales of hay, England, c1960. Farming is an important part of rural history. Hay is an excellent food for grazing animals

Stacking Bales of Hay in Dutch Barns, c1960s. Artist: CM Dixon
Stacking Bales of Hay in Dutch Barns, c1960. Farming is an important part of the Lake District story. Hay is an excellent food for grazing animals

Cattle-milking in fields north-west of Amsterdam
Cattle-milking in fields near Knollendam north-west of Amsterdam

Road-building in Tunisia
Road-building in Tatouine, in Tunisia

A soda-machine in Moscow

Sectional view of a German mine, 1556
Sectional view of a German mine showing the method of sinking shafts and driving horizontal galleries, 1556. A windlass is used to raise and lower men, materials and spoil

Draining a mine using a series of suction pumps powered by a water wheel, 1556. From De re metallica by Georgius Agricola. (Basel, 1556)

Clepsydra (water clock) indicating hours and chiming, 1617-1619. From Utriusque cosmi...historia by Robert Fludd (Oppenheim, 1617-1619)

Minting coins, 1750. At bottom right are dies that would be put in the press, being operated by the two men, in which coins are stamped out. From The Universal Magazine. (London 1750)

Charles Babbages Difference Engine No 1, prototype calculating machine, 1824-1832. Artist: Joseph Clement
Charles Babbages Difference Engine No 1, prototype calculating machine, 1824-1832. English mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871)

Sketch of a perpetual motion device designed by Leonardo da Vinci, c1472-1519. Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Sketch of a perpetual motion device designed by Leonardo da Vinci, c1472-1519. Da Vincis (1452-1519) scientific drawings featured ideas such as a spinning wheel and a flying machine

Roman soldiers using a war engine firing multiple arrows, 1605. Reconstruction from Poliorceticon sive de Machinis Tormentis Telis by Justus Lipsius. (Antwerp, 1605)

Spinning cotton with self-acting mules of the type devised by Richard Roberts in 1825 (c1835). These could be powered by water wheel or steam engine

Woman armaments worker, World War II, 1940. A woman in a tank factory being instructed in the use of a metal power drill

Womens Land Army lifting a crop, World War II, 1940. The Womens Land Army was established to meet the demand for agricultural labour caused by the absence of male farm workers on active service

British girls of the Womens Land Army learning to plough with a tractor, World War II, 1939-1945. The Womens Land Army was established in June 1939 to meet the demand for agricultural labour caused

Potter turning vessels on a wheel, Ancient Egyptian, Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty (2565-2420 BC). Limestone model. From the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago

Patrick Bell (1799-1869), Scottish clergyman and inventor, 1868. In c1827 Bell invented a mechanical reaper which Cyrus McCormick later perfected

Lace making, 1884. A small girl minding the spools to see that all runs smoothly on a machine winding cotton thread on bobbins for use in making Nottingham machine lace

Potters workshop, c1860. A woman turns the wheel while a girl baller supplies the potter with lumps of clay of the correct weight for the next vessel to be thrown

Throwing an earthenware vessel, c1860. A belt-driven wheel of the type used at the Wedgwood and Copeland factories. The speed of the wheel is regulated by the boy raising or lowering a belt

Interior of a Printing Works and Plan of a Press, 1751-1777. A print from the Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts et des Metiers by Diderot & d Alembert, 1751-1777

Interior of a Printing Works, wetting room, 1751-1777. A print from the Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts et des Metiers by Diderot & d Alembert, 1751-1777

Interior of a Printing Works, type setting, 1751-1777. Artist: Denis Diderot
Interior of a Printing Works, type setting, 1751-1777. A print from the Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts et des Metiers by Diderot & d Alembert, 1751-1777

Hydraulic machine IV, 1678. Artist: Athanasius Kircher
Hydraulic machine IV, 1678. A plate from Mundus Subterraneus, Amsterdam, 1678. Found in the collection of Jean-Claude Carriere

Spinning Jenny, 1820. The Spinning Jenny was invented by James Hargreaves (c1720-1778) in 1764. On his original machine, a single wheel controlled eight spindles rather than the single spindle

Bellows operated by a camshaft powered by a water wheel, 1540. This application of the medieval invention of the cam enabled both bellows to be powered by the same water wheel

Bellows supplying draught to a smelting furnace, 1556. The bellows are operated by a camshaft powered by a water wheel (just visible at extreme right)

Eli Whitneys (1765-1825) saw-gin for cleaning cotton, 1865. Whitneys cotton gin, patented in 1794, pioneered the mass production of cotton

Cross-section of Eli Whitneys (1765-1825) saw-gin for cleaning cotton, 1865. Seeds can be seen ejected (left), while cotton fibres are passing on the right

Saw gin for cleaning cotton being operated by barefoot black labourer, southern USA, 1865. An Eagle gin, an improved form of the cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney (1765-1825) in 1794

Rolling mill and forge powered by hot gases from a furnace, 1629. An idea proposed by Giovanni Branca in Le Machine. (Rome, 1629)

Sectional view of a mine showing shafts and galleries, 1556. At the surface of each shaft is a winch or windlass for raising and lowering loads

Astronomical clock, Old Town Hall, Prague, Czech Republic, 1943
Astronomical clock, Old Town Hall, Prague, 1943. Dating from the early 15th century, it is also known as the Prague Orloj. A print from Signal, Febuary 1943

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