Bone bobbin. From BS 1965-71, Brook Street site, Winchester, Hampshire.

Lacemaker's bobbin of bone

Post-medieval

Found during excavations by the Winchester Excavations Comittee in the Brooks area of Winchester in the late 1960s

When lacemaking was introduced to England by Flemish immigrants in the second half of the 16th century, the earliest bobbins were of bone, as here, and the earliest products were sometimes known as bone lace. The bobbins held the different threads and slipping was prevented by the grooves. For more information about this object, see Professor Martin Biddle's (1990) book, Winchester Studies 7.ii, Object and Economy in Medieval Winchester, catalogue number 2505.