What a great question. I will be following this thread with great interest.
I was reminded by Vibeke's scholarly (as always) references regarding the alternatives to pins, that my knowledge is very parochial and "English" orientated, with only a smattering of "continental" knowledge. However, and I am not sure how widely this is known but I have been for a long time trying to construct a time line of the development of the shapes, design and decoration of English lace bobbins. I regularly fear it is a lost cause, extremely difficult, or that I am not smart enough to do it. Suffice to say it is a half hearted, half written article and may stay that way for ever!! For the sake of this thread I will offer my ideas which I know is doubted by some of my fellow bobbin researchers, but we have to start somewhere and I am the sort of person who regularly makes a fool of himself!. For a start I am not "totally" convinced that the arrival of the lace makers as the result of the Saint Bartholomew ( The Flemish) massacres is the only event that brought lace to England (but that is another story for another thread, perhaps) I mention this as it is natural for the style of bobbins used by those refugees to have been imported with them. There is some evidence of this and the Suffolk Bobbins are a strong reminder of this (and other examples) I also look at the shapes of bobbins that we have archeological dating for. The "Gloucester" bobbin for example; quite short, turned, decorated with concentric rings, Unspangled. Interestingly the find reported in Danske Frihandskniplinger has a very similar short, turned and decorated bobbin, along with the more traditional Continental design of bobbin. These two examples of bobbins that could easily be taken for "English" style bobbins, one found in Scandanavia the other in England are both very old. I now move to the bobbins of Northern France, particularly from Normandy and Bayeux. They are turned, double necked, decorated (some even with pewter rings) of course they are Unspangled. Moving to England where all sorts of things are happening in East Devon, Malmsbury, Downton and South bucks, but amazingly the highly decorated and spangled bobbins are found basically only in the East Midlands. If we isolate the East Midland bobbins as being especially English, then I am seeing its origins coming from Northern France. Accompanying this development has to be styles of lace, width of lace.. possibly design of pillows (I doubt this one) but especially the artistic abilities of the English turners as the industrial revolution becomes more established. They have better lathes and tools and have an innovative artistic mind applied to bobbin making and the marketing of lace bobbins. I always get into trouble when I associate lace styles with bobbins, but I offer it to this thread quite willing to be shot down. So above is a brief resume of what I am thinking. I am desperately needing your help even if it is only to say that I should give up, as I am on the wrong track! :) Just a note on Queyras bobbins. I believe that they were (in latter years) made for the tourist trade and they did not sell and are not being made/carved these days. They are certainly to be coveted. Brian and Jean >From Cooranbong. Australia You can read my bobbin stuff on: http://tiny.cc/egb85 - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
