Forces, fusaïoles

A pair of forces is a kind of large pair of wrought iron scissors whose two pointed blades are held open by a bow that acts as a spring. This tool had a varied use but the shepherds still used it until the beginning of the XXth century to shear the sheep. We can find forces associated with spindle whorls which are small weights in the shape of a ring that we thread at the bottom of the spindle of the spinners. They allow to wedge the first strand of wool of the skein and to give inertia to the rotation to allow the twisting of the thread. Spindle whorls are often cut from a perforated ceramic shard or, more rarely, shaped and decorated.