Bobbins
Five wooden bobbins with glass beads
Name/Title
BobbinsDescription
Five wood and bead bobbins for lace making. The glass beads are attached to the spindle with fine fuse wire.Context
Nicolette Makovicky, Wolfson College, Oxford, UK says in 'England the other Within Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum': "Unlike lace makers in the traditional centres of lace making in Belgium, Flanders and France who used large numbers of identical, plain bobbins, each bobbin on the pillow of an English lace maker was different. Hand carved or turned on a treadle lathe, bobbins were commonly made of wood or bone and could be intricately carved, painted, inlaid with pewter, wire-bound or inscribed with names and dates". The decorative beads at the end of a bobbin were called a 'spangle' in the East Midlands, or 'jinkum' in parts of Oxfordshire. Often the beads which looked quite ordinary were custom made - square cut and rough. The function of the spangles was to create a tension on the thread that was being used to make the lace as well as keeping unused bobbins out of the way on the pillow. The rough surface of the beads would prevent the beads from slipping on the pillow. The square cut beads were costly and so cheap beads from a necklace could be used as a substitute - as possibly in the object illustrated here.Category
Clothing, Occupation