It seems to me that you can think of the development of equipment in terms of the demands of the industry. The patterns most in fashion need a particular thread weight, and the weight of the thread governs the working surface and bobbin type needed. This in turns governs hand position. In Belgium the use of the 'cookie pillow' is seen in photographs back into the 19th century, especially in the Wallonie region. These are often used with a box-like base with a drawer with a peg sticking up so you can rotate the pillow around a central peg in the support. But free round pillows have also been used, often very large diameters. And the Belgian square cushion with the slightly domed surface down its length (like lengthwise slice of a very long cylinder), can be traced back to the very earliest portraits of lacemakers in the 16th century, in several countries. Both these forms are used with the palms facing down and the bobbins manipulated mostly with the fingers. Bobbins rarely leave the support of the pillow, the only time you pick up a bobbin is to put up a pin. This type of support aids in working with very fine thread. The problem of stopping bobbins from rolling in this process is mainly a matter of practice. Contrast this with how bolster or cylindrical (round or slightly flattened) pillows held across or away from the seated lacemaker, with or without a support. The bobbins often hang down freely either in front or to the sides of the working area which is hard on the thread, so thicker threads tend to be used with these pillows. Here the palms face up and the bobbins are picked up and often held in groups. Fingerwork plays a big part, but also the action of the wrist turning.
And of course, the bolster pillow held with the long axis oriented right and left helps with continuous laces in that you just keep turning the pillow and never have to reset the entire work and all the pins to the top of a pattern. I'm thinking this is probably the primary reason the bolster pillow evolved. With the flat pillows or cylinders held out in front of the body (like they do in Spain), you still have to reposition the work when you reach the end of the pillow. I would argue that in looking at the English bolster and Honiton pillows, you use both hand positions. Remember, the large English Midlands bolster and square pillows are extremely large, often presenting an almost flat surface which helps keep tension off the threads. But spangled bobbins are difficult to maneuver with a hands-down position and get any speed, so lacemakers often use a combination of both techniques. In Honiton, in making very small motifs, it's advantageous to lift the bobbins off the surface, but the small bobbins can be difficult to control, so again you use both hand positions. Then the combination of bolster set into the middle of a cookie pillow, or even in the upper part of the Belgian-type square domed cushion (often used in Switzerland) combines the support the bobbins need to handle fine thread, the speed you can get with the overhand position, and eliminates the repositioning of the work for continuous laces. You can go very fast on either class of pillow, but I suspect that the equipment and hand position evolved to meet the technical limitations of whatever fashion dictated. Take a look at the lacemaker monuments at https://www.pinterest.com/LaceNews/lace-monuments/. These statues honor the lacemakers of different countries and is a nice way to study the pillows and hand positions used in various countries. Funny how there's no monument honoring English lacemakers - Lace Guild, are you listening??? Laurie ________________________________________________ Laurie Waters lacen...@gmail.com, lswaters...@comcast.net <http://lacenews.net/> http://lacenews.net http://www.pinterest.com/LaceNews/ http://www.youtube.com/user/lacenews https://twitter.com/lacenews https://www.facebook.com/LaceNews http://scienceandlace.ning.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
