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Message:: [QUOTE="Northern Lights Lodge, post: 8061739, member: 13464"]This post is in response to some recent queries re: antique Bedsfordshire lace bobbins. I felt like I needed to follow up with some additional information re: lace bobbins in general. The first photos are of a "hill pillow with revolving bolster", which is exceptionally well suited for using Bedsfordshire spangled bobbins. This is one of my "demonstration" pillows; so in addition to spangled bobbins, I've also included a few other styles. The lace is one of my own designs called "3 Diamonds". It is a simple Torchon pattern.[ATTACH=full]425172[/ATTACH]This is the top layer of bobbins and includes old and new bobbins from different locations - purely for education. Lacemaking is done more rhythmetically when all the bobbins are relatively the same size, shape and weight. The pattern probably should be called "3 Diamonds and Fan" - but I liked the sound of it without the "fan" tacked on. The other notable thing is that on the very far right I'm using a sparkle thread - definitely non-traditional.[ATTACH=full]425171[/ATTACH]This shows the bobbins which were in the lower layer. [ATTACH=full]425173[/ATTACH] This is a better photo of the lace - the "3 diamonds" show up a bit clearer; but the far left diamond is very tiny. This is an assortment of bone bobbins that are (mostly) named. [ATTACH=full]425179[/ATTACH] This is the backside of the above bobbins. [ATTACH=full]425180[/ATTACH] Of interest here: (close up of some of the above bobbins) From left:#1. JOEL which as a domino design on the back and "evil eye' bead with a bone ring spangle#2. JOHN with domino design on back#3. "KIS ME QUICK MY MOME IS COMIN" has a great "eye" (polka dot) bead#4. FRANCIS with bold diagonal red slashes on the back and red and blue incised stripes#5. RICHARD with bold diagonal red slashes on the back and red and blue incised stripes.#6. BENJAMIN ROBERTS 1858 (perhaps he was born in 1858)#7. SAMUEL with a pretty frosted bell shape bead#8. FANNY with pretty square cuts and carved bone flower beads#9.#10. "BUY THE RING"#11. ELIZABETH with a black faceted glass button#12. Spiral written "COME LOVE AND LIVE WITH ME MY DEAR" made by James Compton (1824-1889) distinctive for being a second generation bobbin maker and known for beautiful spiral written bobbins. His "Y's" were had a very curling stem and words spiraling to the right.#13. KING DAVID#14. Multiple incised line bobbin#15. Tinsel bobbin - the indented areas originally held small strips of "tinsel". This one has lost all the metallic part of the tinsel and only the paper back remains in some of the grooves. I've also heard this one called a "fish bone/spine" bobbin. It has a really pretty carved rose bone bead.#16. JOHN with a fairly thick shaft and deep green, pink and clear bobbins.#17. RUTH with deep dots along the back side. The pigment has worn off so it is hard to read.#18. THOMAS with a large, square faceted clear bead.#19.  ELIZABETH with red heart shape beads (those may be new additions - but I've had the bobbin since the mid 80's and it came that way). [ATTACH=full]425185[/ATTACH] I won't go into too much detail about these. All are spangled Bedsfordshire bobbins.From left:#8. Has a little jade anvil on the bottom.#31. Has pewter inlay butterflies.#32. Has a wide pewter panel which has something inscribed on it - but no longer readable. It has an interesting 2 part copper button. You should be able to spot some "wired" bobbins which have a spiral wire, some leopards and another butterfly. The group below belong to a special group of bobbins known as "Henry the 8th" bobbins. According to the Springett book "Spangles and Superstitions" this story illustrates very clearly how a "myth" can be created and by constant repetition become accepted as fact. These bobbins may be an East Midland style, but more commonly known as South Bucks bobbins. The bobbins have 1 through 6 or 8 loose pewter rings also known as "jingles" or "gingles". According to the story represent Henry the VIII and his six wives, the inference being that bobbins with one ring belonged to Catherine of Aragon, 2 to Anne Boleyn and a bobbin with 3 rings on the shank was described in a published article as having belonged to Henry's 3rd wife Jane Seymour. The bobbin with 8 pewter rings representing Henry himself. It is unlikely that this story is true, as this style bobbin dates back into the early 16th century. The whole story was in fact invented by Miss Ethel Nettleship; a lacemaker. It was documented in a paper that Miss Nettleship (circa 1927) was offering a complete set of 6 bobbins "Royal Wives' for 2lb10 and selling them at the Kensington Antique Dealers Fair. Apparently, she was buying up these local bobbins for pennies and replacing any missing rings and making a handsome profit. She even said that it was particularly difficult to find #2 and #5 as those bobbins represented beheaded wives.  Strangely enough, there is often a grain of truth in even the most far fetched stories as it is hard to find a bobbin with 2 rings and harder to find one with 5. Perhaps they were considered unlucky.  Still, I consider myself lucky to have a complete set. [ATTACH=full]425187[/ATTACH] This selection is mostly Bedsfordshire spangled bone... a butterfly, wired, dyed (green or red).Of particular interest is #7 from the left. The green dye has mostly worn off. It has deep blue beads with a white "Birdcage" bead, which has tiny beads encircling the larger bead. It is difficult to find an intact one as the fine wire often broke.#14. The pretty twisted one on the end, I am told was ivory. It is "Danish".[ATTACH=full]425188[/ATTACH] I'll mention here that the dyes were different - depending on if you were dying the bobbin itself or the decoration. This information comes from the book by Springett - Success to the Lace Pillow. The wood and bone bobbins were colored by immersion in various dyes and the dyes didn't dye very deeply and wore off the shank quickly due to handling and exposure to sun and usually stayed fairly vivid in the head area where the thread was wound. Some of the dyes were: deep reddish purple obtained from the Central American logwood tree. Carmine was probably derived from cochineal (the dried and powdered remains of an insect which lives on cactus in Mexico) and Cudbear (a dried and powdered lichen) is another possible source of red dyes.Green dyes may have been obtained from arsenate of copper which requires careful handling. A yellow was achieved by using potassium bichromate and a shade of mauve was produced by gentain violet. The dots and grooves used a wider variety of colors which were produced by mixing powdered paint with gum arabic and then painting it into the grooves or dots with a brush or quill. Any surplus was easily wiped away. This type of coloring is water soluble!!! I can attest to the truth of that! While demonstrating in a beautiful summer day in our local park during an art fair; a sudden HEAVY downpour just came down in buckets! I fortunately carried my demo pillow in a plastic zipper bag. At the time, the pillow had had a lot of dyed incised bobbins strung on it! I managed to get it into the plastic bag JUST in time. If I remember right (it was 30 odd years ago); ONE particularly juicy raindrop fell on one of the dyed incised dots and immediately disappeared! YIKES! It was then that I learned they were water soluble! I guess that is the end of the photos I can download in this post...I have just a few more I'll post in a different thread I hope you've learned a little...Cheerio, Leslie[/QUOTE]

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