These iron shears were found in Southwark, London, and consist of two blades joined by a loop. Shears and scissors were common tools in medieval and early modern England, useful for a variety of work, some of which we would think of as commercial and some more domestic. For early modern households where the two were often taking place within the same spaces, however, tools like these shears could make the connection between types of activity. They had a variety of uses depending on their size, with larger shears playing an important role in the textile industry. Some were used in sheep shearing, while others were used by tailors to cut cloth. Shears and pressing irons were the tailor’s main tools, although they did also need proximity to a fire to warm the irons. <br /> <br /> Many people of middling status were involved in the textile industry, from the merchants trading wool to the shearmen, tanners, glovers and tailors who relied on these natural materials for their craft. Shears were often used as symbols of the textile trades, for example on tokens issued by cloth merchants and tailors in the seventeenth century (see e.g. PAS <a href='https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1023152' target='_blank'>HESH-122311</a>). Although most tools were individually owned – part of the working capital of each craftsman rather than belonging to a workshop more generally – when William Byston, a shearman, died in Southampton in 1558, his possessions included 9 pairs of working shears and a grindstone. He left his sons John and Richard ‘all the implements in my 2 shops equally divided’ including the shears.<br /> <br /> The shears selected for this exhibition are small, however, measuring 10.5 cm in length and 2.1 cm in width. Their size suggests that they were used for household work, perhaps for needlework or in the kitchen. They are operated by pressing the two sides together below the meeting point, making a close relationship between the hands of the user and the material being cut. Shears were essential tools of middling domestic and professional life as, unlike the gentry, the ‘middling sort’ relied on an occupation for their wealth and status.
Iron shears (Shears), 1300-1900

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Iron shears

Iron shears (Shears), 1300-1900

These iron shears were found in Southwark, London, and consist of two blades joined by a loop. Shears and scissors were common tools in medieval and early modern England, useful for a variety of work, some of which we would think of as commercial and some more domestic. For early modern households where the two were often taking place within the same spaces, however, tools like these shears could make the connection between types of activity. They had a variety of uses depending on their size, with larger shears playing an important role in the textile industry. Some were used in sheep shearing, while others were used by tailors to cut cloth. Shears and pressing irons were the tailor’s main tools, although they did also need proximity to a fire to warm the irons.

Many people of middling status were involved in the textile industry, from the merchants trading wool to the shearmen, tanners, glovers and tailors who relied on these natural materials for their craft. Shears were often used as symbols of the textile trades, for example on tokens issued by cloth merchants and tailors in the seventeenth century (see e.g. PAS HESH-122311). Although most tools were individually owned – part of the working capital of each craftsman rather than belonging to a workshop more generally – when William Byston, a shearman, died in Southampton in 1558, his possessions included 9 pairs of working shears and a grindstone. He left his sons John and Richard ‘all the implements in my 2 shops equally divided’ including the shears.

The shears selected for this exhibition are small, however, measuring 10.5 cm in length and 2.1 cm in width. Their size suggests that they were used for household work, perhaps for needlework or in the kitchen. They are operated by pressing the two sides together below the meeting point, making a close relationship between the hands of the user and the material being cut. Shears were essential tools of middling domestic and professional life as, unlike the gentry, the ‘middling sort’ relied on an occupation for their wealth and status.

Object Type Shears
Year 1300-1900
Material Iron
Discovered London
Owned By PAS LON-726280
Keywords making; producing; owning; craftsmanship; housework; occupation; production; London; metal; tools
Image Credit Shears (1300-1900), iron. Portable Antiquities Scheme LON-726280, Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme Creative Commons BY 3.0.

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