Purchased by the Museum in 1903 from James Tregaskis, an antiquarian bookseller. Upon entry, it was thought the wheel was probably French and that it dated from the end of the 16th century. Mr Lehfeldt noted that a similar one appeared in Havard, Dictionnaire de l'ameublement, vol. IV p.779. The purchase was agreed because 'it is a very good example of ornamental turnery being almost entirely constructed from spindles of varying shapes'.