51/226/1-24

24 bobbins for making lace. They are all made of wood and have thistle tops, but are of different shapes and sizes. Some bobbins are more decorative than others; some of many turned grooves while others have none. Two have very bulbous ends and are ‘continental’ bobbins. They came from a lacemaker in Ickford, Buckinghamshire.

24 bobbins: wood

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'These bobbins are all made of light-coloured wood and have particularly long necks. They are possibly QUILLS, bobbins on which the whole of the GIMP from a skein is wound. They are never attached to the pillow, but the gimp is wound from them on to the TROLLIES. These bobbins came from Ickford (South Bucks.)', MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/226 // NAME: 24 LACEMAKER'S BOBBINS // NEG NO.: 35/1285 // STORAGE: ', Visiting researcher note, Ann Dismukes (lacemaker), 1 October 2014 – All wood; all with thistle tops; different shapes; some more decorative than others; some have lots of grooves while others have none; some seem to have traces of spots (this may be residue from paint or the type of wood); one has a spangle with a single bead (perhaps used as a marker for a gimp thread); two have very bulbous ends; continental style bobbins – would dangle off the sides of the bolster pillow rather than lying out on a flat pillow.