page_title: John Duncan (weaver)
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: John Duncan (weaver) / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Plate showing a loom from John Duncan, Practical and Descriptive Essays on the Art of Weaving (1808).
context_page_description: John Duncan was a Scottish weaver who wrote an authoritative book about weaving in 1808.
context_section_description: John Duncan came from Glasgow, but nothing has so far been found about his ancestry. He was the inventor of a patent tambouring machine (Patent No 2769, of 1804). This was an early sewing machine, for "raising flowers, figures and other ornaments on muslins, lawns, silks, woollens, or mixed cloths". Duncan may have used the chain stitch, which was employed for tambour lace, as was later done by Barthélemy Thimonnier. Sometimes Duncan's invention has been described as the first embroidering machine; as with other pioneering machines of the period, it was unsuccessful.
caption: Plate from Practical and Descriptive Essays on the Art of Weaving (1808).
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery 6.0.6001.18000", "Image DateTime": "2012:04:25 16:53:29"}