Dear Elena, There is a book, Kloppel, Kissen, Stander about pillows, bobbins and stands. Unfortunately it is in German. It does not have a pillow exactly like this one, although there are similar ones. The book, as far as I can tell physically describes the photos of the pillows and I don't think there is a lot of description beyond what is available to the eye. Interestingly, most of the Belgian pillows, which this resembles, have stands, as does the pillow in Vermeer's Lacemaker. Years ago, I was in a class with Maria Provencher. Someone did not have a stand and she suggested that they hold the pillow in their lap and put a stool under their feet, saying that this was how the Belgian lacemakers often worked and that it was a very comfortable position that they could hold for hours. I cannot tell if the lacemaker has a small stool under her feet. Perhaps you can tell from the painting. I think she might. I can't really read the text in the book, but I can try to describe the pillow in the painting. I invite others to correct this description or to add to it. I would say:the pillow is a nicely decorated version of a utilitarian object. Perhaps it was a special gift. As you can see from the painting, there is a drawer in it (facing the viewer) that can be used to store tools and other objects, although the worker seems to have her scissors suspended from the pillow or her dress, undoubtedly signalling that they are used more than any other tool. The pillow is sloped on either side and maybe also on the part closest to the worker. The allows gravity to assist in the tensioning of the threads. Although the worker appears to be making a straight border, she is not using a roller for her work surface. Presumably she will have to move the work up from time to time, which seems a little bit cumbersome. I don't know if they didn't have roller pillows in this era or if the artist thought it would be a less effective painting. It looks to me as though she is trying to shorten the thread on her bobbin, possibly by using a pin to loosen the hitch on the bobbin so that she can roll the thread onto it, turning the bobbin toward the pillow. I expect that she uses the continental way of winding the bobbins, which is what I use. So, she would hold the bobbin that way when shortening, turning it horizontally the opposite way when lengthening it. The bobbins are bulbed bobbins which are common on the continent, verses the straight spangled bobbins of the English. Bulbed bobbins allow the worker to tension easily by tugging the bobbin slightly when ever she picks it up. I have no idea what purpose the black appendage on the top of the pillow serves. It doesn't look like the sort of thing that you wind finished lace on, or protect finished lace in. Maybe it is simply decorative? What have I left out or gotten wrong? Devon
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