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  Bobbin Lace Introduction

  © Lorelei Halley 2011 

        Home      links to historic bobbin lace photos        links to contemporary bobbin lace                   links to learning bobbin lace    

The earliest definite documentation for the existence of bobbin lace is the pattern book published by LePompe in 1559.  There are also inventories of the late 1400s which mention "bone lace".  This may refer to bobbin lace, but we don't know for certain what these "bone laces" looked like.  Bobbin lace is actually a form of weaving in which only the tops of the warp threads are anchored to something, but are only weighted on the bottom.  This allows them to move in relation to each other and creates the possibility of a huge variety of different weaves and densities, a far greater variety than is possible with any other form of weaving.  It is worked on a pillow (actually a very large and hard packed pincushion) as a base, with bobbins which store the thread and weight it, and with pins to guide the threads along their proper paths.

Bobbin lace on a cookie pillow.  Torchon bobbin lace on a roller pillow.             Bobbin lace pattern from 1559  LePompe bobbin lace         Cluny bobbin lace, similar to the early passamenterie.

Many lace historians now believe that bobbin lace developed out of passamenterie, a fancy narrow braid which was intended to be appliqued onto the velvet garments of the day.  These passamenteries were often made of silver or gold, and some were made of colored silks.  Many of the patterns in LePompe are of designs that would work as passamenteries.

The bobbinlace section of this website contains a variety of photos and information, in three major catagories

Photos of historical bobbin laces -- bobbin lace identification --  Antique Bobbin Lace                     bk   

Some examples of historic bobbin laces that you will find on these pages. 


17th century:
early Flemish tape lace Milanese tape lace Antwerp Pottenkant bobbinlace    
18th century: Binche bobbinlace Flanders bobbinlace Paris bobbinlace Brussels bobbinlace  
Napoleonic era Mechlin bobbinlace        
19th century:
Bar ground
Bedfordshire bobbinlace LePuy guipure bobbin lace Maltese bobbinlace    
19th century
Mesh ground
Point ground bobbin lace Chantilly bobbin lace   Valenciennes bobbin lace  
19th century
Part Lace
  Duchesse bobbinlace Honiton bobbinlace    
19th century
Part Lace (Tape Lace)
Russian tape lace Czech bobbin tape lace      
Revival Era straight lace--

late 19th to early 20th century
revival Flanders revival era Binche revival era Paris revival era Mechlin lace Cluny bobbin lace
Revival Era part lace--
late 19th to early 20th century
revival era old Flemish/Milanese Rosaline bobbinlace      
20th century: 
New revival era.
Binche Cluny Bruges Bloomwork bobbin lace Withof bobbinlace
 LH
 

 

  Laces by Living Lacemakers: what we are all doing now, some simple, some complex (modern bobbin lace).                         bk

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For those who want to learn bobbin lace.  Achieving a basic understanding of the various kinds of bobbin lace, learning bobbinlace, make bobbinlace, how to get started, what to expect.  The different kinds of bobbin lace use different ways of solving problems.  Bobbin lacemaking.

A new site for discussion of all forms of hand made lace, predominantly bobbin lace:  http://laceioli.ning.com

Contact me at     lhalley@bytemeusa.com                          July 31, 2010              Revised February 13, 2011.