http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/lb_2010_15.pdf
I wrote an article with the help of Arachne members way back about pins. It can be found (hopefully) by clicking on this above link or else the tiny URL below and scrolling down to it. The article was more historic than opinion, but I might have ventured a little in that direction. I am sure that poor and isolated lace makers would have utilized any available substitutes for pins and bobbins. There quite few examples of bone slivers being used as pins (not specifically for lace makers) The anecdotal evidence for fish bones makes it believable as does the use of thorns. If we look at our own lives we often make use of substitutes until we can afford the real thing; I am guessing lace makers did the same. When that article was being written here was a very detailed history of pins put out by a Needle and Pin manufacturer, which was really very interesting Brian and Jean >From Cooranbong. Australia You can read my bobbin stuff on: http://tiny.cc/egb85 Here is some of the correspondence we had back then. I was, in my undergraduate years, a student of Art History. I still look at paintings, sculptures, and architecture as lasting documentation of cultural norms that were sometimes not documented otherwise. So I look at very old paintings of lace makers, and I've not come across any which depict crude "knuckle bones" being used for bobbins. But let's face it... by the time the painters of the era recognized lace for the art that it was, the equipment had evolved to a respectable level. We have portraits of lots of wealthy patrons wearing cutwork and needle laces - but no paintings of the lower class who produced these masterpieces. Likewise, we have portraits showing early bobbin lace, but the means with which it was produced has not been shown in any work with which I'm familiar. I'm inclined to join the school of skeptical thought that argues that if the fish bone were fine enough for the lace being made, it would not withstand being driven into the pillow and holding up under tension. I suspect that a poor lace maker purchased pins in whatever quantity she could afford, and then guarded them carefully. While thread supplies must be replenished, pins could last a very long time if carefully used. Clay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Lemin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2004 10:10 AM Subject: [lace] Fish bones > Your lateral thinking is quite original and worthy of serious consideration > until it is disproven. Like many things in lace history we are not really > sure about the truth of the matter. > > At one time I had a pretty full paper on the history of pins but goodness > knows where it is now! > > Suffice to say that, yes they were quite expensive, but the lace was even more > expensive. If you could afford the lace you could afford the pins. > > Brass pins (if I remember correctly) were available at that time, thus > reducing the rust problem. > > The whole business of pins, relates mostly to the makers who, for the most > part, were not at all well off, but there were periods of relative prosperity; > but lets face it, most of them were poor. So they turned to cheap > alternatives. Fishbones if you lived near the sea and chicken bone slivers if > you were in an agricultural community. Thorns are said to have been utilized > too, but the heads of those are rather large to me. > > Couple with this folk history are the chicken/ other animal bones for > bobbins. > > As a personal view I tend to accept these tales, but it is interesting that we > have excavated quite old bobbins but not bones that are associated with the > occupation. Of course, bones would not necessarily be considered lace tools > by the archaeologists! and thus passed over. I have in the back of my mind > that that bones were used initially as bobbins and thus they developed into > bobbins, and after that they were used only to supplement the bobbins on the > pillow. > > > What do other members think? > > > > > Brian and Jean from Cooranbong Australia - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
