66/51/1

A bodkin is a tool used by basketmakers for a variety of jobs, from opening out the weave to insert a rod or handle, to putting stakes in at the bottom, and therefore come in a many different sizes according to the work. This is a shell bodkin, used for leading one rod or bow down into the weaving of a basket or hamper. It consists of a hollowed out steel spike (the wooden handle appears to be missing), and was given to the Museum by Emily Mullins, a Reading basketmaker.

1 bodkin: metal

Miss Emily E. Mullins (1906–1967) was a basketmaker in Reading. Her family were basketmakers for at least five generations. Her father, William Mullins, had no sons and Emily chose to become a basketmaker and carry on the tradition. She ran a basketmaking business in Bath circa 1926–1939, and moved to London in 1940 where she made baskets for the war effort. Later, she moved to Reading where she took over her father’s job on his death at Cook’s Dairy and Farm Equipment Ltd., a basketmaking firm founded in 1760 by John Cook. Cook’s had premises at Market Place, Reading, and the workshop was at Silver Street, Reading. The Museum has an extensive collection of baskets and basketmaking tools (approximately 200) given to the Museum by Emily Mullins. No correspondence between the Museum and Emily Mullins was found in July 2012, and it is assumed from scraps of information (e.g. a note on the Adlib record for 63/61 which said that the 63/ baskets were made by Emily Mullins for the Museum and were therefore never used, and a note on the Adlib record for 64/147 which said that Emily Mullins made numerous baskets for the Museum in 1964) that the baskets were made by Emily Mullins at Cook’s Silver Street workshop and the tools were used by Emily Mullins at the same workshop., MERL miscellaneous note - This is one of three shell bodkins 66/51/1-3 and is possibly the third of the three sketches, but has no handle., MERL 'Catalogue of baskets' form – 'NAME: BODKIN (shell) // Acc. No.: 66/51/1–3 // Group: CRAFTS. WOOD BASKETS // Neg. no.: 60/8975, 60/8987 // Place of origin: Berkshire // Period in use: pre-1965 // DESCRIPTION // Materials: metal/Steel, brass, wood // User: Emily Mullins // Shape and construction: A hollowed out steel spike, like a gouge, either straight or curved, set in a wooden handle. // Dimensions: The longest spike is 8 1/4” the shortest 3 3/4” // Use: For repair work. It will go into the weave where a finger will not & a rod is led in along the groove. It is very seldom used but when it is nothing else will do. // Dialect names: // Distribution: // Additional notes:'

1965

Cook's Dairy and Farm Equipment Ltd. ()
Wright, Dorothy (Recorder)