Bobbin Lace

Bobbin lace is a handmade lace-making technique, employing two basic hand movements - crossing and twisting - of threads wound on bobbins or spools. Lace grounds and motifs are worked over a pricked paper pattern secured onto a pillow, and pins are inserted to hold the lace stitches in place as they are formed. Creating a piece of lace requires multiple bobbins, yet only four are in use at a time.
The Craft is believed to have originated in Genova, Italy, in the 16th century, evolving from passementerie and other braid-making techniques. It was disseminated throughout Europe, East Asia, and the ‘New World’ during the 17th and 18th centuries by Spanish troops, Portuguese and Dutch colonies, and cross-border textile trade routes. Intermarriages between royal families also played a role in its spread, as it has been a defining characteristic of wealth, status, and fashion. It also played a role in patriotism and nationality, with each country/region having its own distinct style of lace. In the 19th century, bobbin lace arrived in Sub-Saharan Africa and China with Christian missionaries and nuns, who taught lacemaking at schools. Bobbin lace has evolved through its spread around the world. Wherever it arrived, it was readily adopted by local women already practicing other textile crafts, who enhanced it with their own skills, leading to the development of new lace styles and fashions.
 

A unique variation of Bobbin lace is Ashkenazi Jewish lace, best known by its Yiddish name, Shpanier Arbeit (spun work, derived from the Yiddish word spinner). It is believed to have originated in Sasiv, Ukraine (formerly Sasov), in the early nineteenth century. It is made over a rotating drum placed on a wooden framework, from which only four bobbins are hung. A paper pattern is placed on the drum (?)[OT1]  to create the typical Shpanier Arbeit motifs that distinguish between different streams of Hasidic Jews. It incorporates spools of silver and gold thread, along with cotton, and is made by combining crocheting and lacemaking at once.Shpanier Arbeit is used to adorn prayer shawls, kippot, as well as women’s breast kerchiefs and head-coverings. Very little information is publicly available regarding this unique craft, and to this day, it remains a protective trade secret within the community, with only a handful of individuals still making it as a religious practice.  Throughout our research, we were unable to locate a Shpanier Arbeit craftsperson. Therefore, we focused only on the more traditional Bobbin Lace.