Lace bobbins decorated with wire and beads

Wire decorated lace bobbins are very attractive but the wire is liable to break and because of that few have survived, but this post shows three from my collection. The one on the left has had channels cut round it along its length and the central ones have been wound with brass wire. The silver coloured dots are made of pewter and in this case a hole would have been drilled through the bobbin from one side to the other and a small amount of hot pewter would have been inserted into the hole. This bobbin also has an interesting spangle that includes a button, which could have been a love token from an admirer. The central bobbin also has a section of inlaid brass wire wound round it but this time the wire in the diagonal cuts has been strung with tiny turquoise beads. The bobbin on the right is also decorated with wire and beads but this wire is not inlaid and the beads have been added at intervals to make the diagonal patterns. Although the wire is not inserted in a groove, the beads lie in channels that keep them in the diagonal orientation. Very few bobbins were decorated with beads in this way and many of those that were have not survived with their wire or beads intact. You often find bobbins with small drilled holes at the top and bottom of the shank showing where the wire was originally attached. I do think the diagonal bead pattern is very pretty but I don’t use this bobbin because of the risk of breaking the wire.