| Original Message: Brass wire and spangle dates |
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Hi Joyce Spangles are traditionally made using brass (copper alloy) wire, and the wire tends to be thicker than that which we use on our bobbins today. Even when a bobbin wire broke, it was quite usual to keep the beads together and just re-wire it again, so the original beads often stay with a bobbin for life. You can often get earlier beads mixed in later spangles though, as lacemakers had their bead stash which would have had mixed age beads from inheritances and relatives. All your four bobbins have what is termed a separate shackle or link of wire joining the bobbin to the complete spangle ring. This is a later 19th century technique which carried down to the early 20th century and is linked to a particular type of hand-cranked bobbin winder which had a facility for holding the bobbins in a slot by using these shackles. These all look original to me, and the large bottom beads could be either Venetian or Bohemian. Particularly interesting on one of your spangles are the blue tubular beads which are wound beads made longer than simple spheres or oblates. These turn up quite often among groups of Bohemian beads, and can be fairly rough, or sometimes very neat spirals as on the image below. Carole All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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