# La Fileuse

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***La Fileuse*** is an [oil-on-canvas](/source/Oil_painting) by the [English](/source/English_people) artist [John William Waterhouse](/source/John_William_Waterhouse). He painted *La Fileuse* in 1874, before the period when he embraced the style and subject matter of the [Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood](/source/Pre-Raphaelite_Brotherhood), so here he uses the [Academic style](/source/Academic_art).[1][2]

*Fileuse* is the [feminine form](/source/Grammatical_gender) of the [French](/source/French_language) term for someone who spins thread, *fileur*, hence *la fileuse* is a female spinner, referring to the subject of the painting.[3] The woman holds a [distaff](/source/Distaff) under her left arm, a tool which is used to hold unspun fibres to keep them untangled and ease [spinning](/source/Hand_spinning).[4] In her hands, she guides the unspun fibres to the [spindle](/source/Spindle_(textiles)) to spin the fibres into thread. The woman is Fate, spinning the thread of destiny of a single person.[1] She can be interpreted to be the [mythological](/source/Myth) figure [Clotho](/source/Clotho), one of the [Three Fates](/source/Moirai), who spun the thread of life.[5][6]

*La Fileuse* is very typical of Waterhouse's work, depicting a lone female figure draped in [classical](/source/Classical_antiquity) clothing and her hair pinned back, with a pensive or thoughtful stare. This motif can be seen all throughout his career in paintings such as *[Gone, But Not Forgotten](/source/Gone,_But_Not_Forgotten_(Waterhouse_painting))*, *[Miranda](/source/Miranda_(Waterhouse_painting))*, *[Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses](/source/Circe_Offering_the_Cup_to_Ulysses)*, *[The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot](/source/The_Lady_of_Shalott_Looking_at_Lancelot)*, *[A Mermaid](/source/A_Mermaid)*, and all his depictions of [Ophelia](/source/Ophelia).

## Provenance

*La Fileuse* was exhibited in [London](/source/London) at the [Royal Society of British Artists](/source/Royal_Society_of_British_Artists) in spring of 1874.

In 1991, Italy, it was acquired by the [Bonhams](/source/Bonhams) [auction house](/source/Auction_house) from the collection of Claudio Bruni Sakraischik (Galleria La Medusa) (co-founder of the [Giorgio and Isa de Chirico foundation](https://fondazionedechirico.org/en/)). It was then sold on 29 September 2010 for £24,000 including [premium](/source/Buyer's_premium), after which it remains in a [private collection](/source/Private_collection).[7][8]

## See also

- [List of paintings by John William Waterhouse](/source/List_of_paintings_by_John_William_Waterhouse)

## References

1. ["La Fileuse (1874) by John William Waterhouse"](https://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/pictures/la-fileuse-1874). *www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com*. Retrieved 2025-08-16.

1. Trippi, Peter & Waterhouse, John William (eds.) (2002). *J. W. Waterhouse*. 1. publ ed. London: Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-0-7148-4232-5.

1. Larousse, Éditions. ["Traduction : fileur, fileuse - Dictionnaire français-anglais Larousse"](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/fileur_fileuse/33653) (in French). *www.larousse.fr*. Retrieved 2025-08-16.

1. ["Definition of DISTAFF"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distaff). *www.merriam-webster.com*. Retrieved 2025-08-16.

1. Nisha Vyas. [*Encyclopedia Of Greek And Roman Mythology L Roman & M Roman*](http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofgreekandromanmythologylromanmroman_521_Q)

1. ["Fate | Destiny, Predestination, Free Will | Britannica"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fate-Greek-and-Roman-mythology). *www.britannica.com*. 2025-08-13. Retrieved 2025-08-16.

1. ["WATERHOUSE: La Fileuse by John William Waterhouse (British, 1849-1917)"](http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/paintings/default.aspx?pid=1428). *www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070912175012/http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/paintings/default.aspx?pid=1428) 2007-09-12 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-16.

1. ["Bonhams : John William Waterhouse, RA, RI (British, 1849-1917) La Fileuse"](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/17844/lot/143/john-william-waterhouse-ra-ri-british-1849-1917-la-fileuse/). *www.bonhams.com*. Retrieved 2025-08-17.

## External links

- [Art Renewal Center, *La Fileuse*](https://www.artrenewal.org/artworks/la-fileuse/john-william-waterhouse/48946)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [La Fileuse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Fileuse) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Fileuse?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.