Good morning Arachnids It,s interesting about Downton bobbins being carved. However, lathes have been around for a long time. The origin of turning dates to around 1300 B.C. when the Egyptians first developed a two-person lathe. One person would turn the wood work piece with a rope while the other used a sharp tool to cut shapes in the wood. The Romans improved the Egyptian design with the addition of a turning bow. Lathes using a rope tied between a bent over sapling being and a tredle, using the spring in the sapling to pull up when the tredle is released were used in Europe in the Middle Ages and I believe are still used today. The use of hand carved bobbins was probably more to do with the cost or tradition. It would be interesting to see what proportion of the Downton bobbins are hand carved. I have a hand carved Honiton bobbin and a hand carved East Midlands bobbin but there appear to be few from these areas.
There will certainly be some interesting topics to follow. All best wishes to those involved in the project Alex - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
