This lady has the same exact kind of half-circle pillow: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dd/79/a7/dd79a713eed7a7ddc027022a2535c972.jpg <https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dd/79/a7/dd79a713eed7a7ddc027022a2535c972.jpg >
> On Sep 4, 2019, at 12:56 PM, Devon Thein <devonth...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Dear Elena, > There is a book, Kloppel, Kissen, Stander about pillows, bobbins and > stands. Unfortunately it is in German. It does not have a pillow exactly > like this one, although there are similar ones. The book, as far as I can > tell physically describes the photos of the pillows and I don't think there > is a lot of description beyond what is available to the eye. Interestingly, > most of the Belgian pillows, which this resembles, have stands, as does the > pillow in Vermeer's Lacemaker. Years ago, I was in a class with Maria > Provencher. Someone did not have a stand and she suggested that they hold > the pillow in their lap and put a stool under their feet, saying that this > was how the Belgian lacemakers often worked and that it was a very > comfortable position that they could hold for hours. I cannot tell if the > lacemaker has a small stool under her feet. Perhaps you can tell from the > painting. I think she might. > I can't really read the text in the book, but I can try to describe the > pillow in the painting. I invite others to correct this description or to > add to it. > I would say:the pillow is a nicely decorated version of a utilitarian > object. Perhaps it was a special gift. As you can see from the painting, > there is a drawer in it (facing the viewer) that can be used to store tools > and other objects, although the worker seems to have her scissors suspended > from the pillow or her dress, undoubtedly signalling that they are used > more than any other tool. The pillow is sloped on either side and maybe > also on the part closest to the worker. The allows gravity to assist in the > tensioning of the threads. Although the worker appears to be making a > straight border, she is not using a roller for her work surface. Presumably > she will have to move the work up from time to time, which seems a little > bit cumbersome. I don't know if they didn't have roller pillows in this era > or if the artist thought it would be a less effective painting. It looks to > me as though she is trying to shorten the thread on her bobbin, possibly by > using a pin to loosen the hitch on the bobbin so that she can roll the > thread onto it, turning the bobbin toward the pillow. I expect that she > uses the continental way of winding the bobbins, which is what I use. So, > she would hold the bobbin that way when shortening, turning it horizontally > the opposite way when lengthening it. > The bobbins are bulbed bobbins which are common on the continent, verses > the straight spangled bobbins of the English. Bulbed bobbins allow the > worker to tension easily by tugging the bobbin slightly when ever she picks > it up. > I have no idea what purpose the black appendage on the top of the pillow > serves. It doesn't look like the sort of thing that you wind finished lace > on, or protect finished lace in. Maybe it is simply decorative? > What have I left out or gotten wrong? > Devon > > >> >> > > - > 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/ - 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/
