According to existent data, bobbin lace was already cited in the industry of the eighteenth century. In France, it was called “dentelles au fuseau” and in Italy “Marleti a poimbini”. By the middle of this century it began to flourish its industry in Europe, where it was very appreciated.

To be able to work bobbin lace, it is necessary to have a pillow to which a pattern (drawing) is attached. This pillow or “mundillo” name in spanish - it’s known in Italy as “tambola”, in Portugal as “almofada” and in England receives the name of “pillouc”, varying its form between cylindric or turning around and oval and fixed, according to the pattern to be made.

The lace is covered with a piece of white material to preserve, protect and keep the work in progress clean and free of dust, if one have to take a break and leave it until the next time.

The pillow or “mundillo” (moon-dee-yo) most used in Spain is 80cm. long. It is stuffed very tightly with straw and covered with cotton material, usually blue or green color.

For hundreds of years, lace has been considered one of the most beautiful and sumptuous things man has ever made.

We call lace a kind of net made of threads of various materials (cotton, silk, wool, rayon) or metal which forms a design by twisting braids and overweaving the threads that form the lace.

Early lace

The oldest laces are nets (Knotted nets) that were used as hair and collar ornaments. Archaeologists have found laces in egyptian tombs from the year 2500 A.C.

During the Middle Age women made laces with their fingers: twisting and braiding the threads which they held between their fingers and so acquiring a variety of combinations.

Up to the middle of the 16th century the laces were not indispensable in the making of clothing. Lace was substituted with golden braids and fancy imagination. The greatest pieces of lace were worn by the clergy, some of the were extraordinarily sumptuous.

A great demand for fine lace started on the second half of 16th century by elegant people, however, the best epoch for lace corresponds to the period of two centuries which begins in 1550 and ends in the middle of 18th century.

Venetian lace

Venetians developed a style of lace called “Reticella” which consisted on taking some of the threads of a piece of material (calar) leaving big rectangles, in which motifs were worked in with different designs.

French people spent such a great amount of money buying Venetian Laces that the prime minister of King Louis XIV created a lace industry in France bringing experts from Venice. The King finally prohibited the import of lace into France.

Types of laces

There are two kinds of Laces: the hand made and the machine made. There are two kinds of handmade laces: needle and bobbin lace. The first ones called needle point is the type developed on the 16th century with only one thread, worked on motifs drawn on parchments.

Bobbin lace was worked on an oval pillow given sometimes the name of pillow lace. The number of bobbins depends of how wide and complicated the design is. Sometimes two to three thousand bobbins have been used!

About this blog

I am compiling information about the history of Bobbin lace from different sources. More information will be added soon!

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