Have you consulted with the Great Lakes Lace Group members in your area
or the International Old Lacers? These groups are a fabulous resource. 

Mary W. Ballard
Senior Textiles Conservator,
Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian Institution
4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland MD 20746 U.S.A.
tel: 301-238-1210 fax: 301-238-3709 
email [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Textile Conservators [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Shirley Ellis
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 10:51 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: lace-making pillow

Hello All,
We have a lace-making pillow WITH bobbins and attached lace going out on
display.  The threads are currently tangled up and the bobbins splayed
out in a half circle.  The curator would like this pillow to look as if
it was "being worked", ie with portions of the bobbins looped over pins
in various sections on the pillow.  

I am concerned about the weight of the bobbins, hanging from their
threads and would like to have them supported on display.  Does anyone
have any experience or knowledge of seeing lace-making pillows and
bobbins on exhibit and how this was handled?  Obviously, whatever is
done needs to be unobtrusive and right now I can't think of anything
other than plexi tiers which really isn't that minimal. 

Any ideas would be welcome.

thanks
shirley

Shirley Ellis
Textile Conservator
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON  M5S 2C6
ph:  416 586-5878
fax:  416 586-8036