To include these bobbins in this article is technically incorrect as I am dealing with English lace bobbins, but they are so unique that I feel there is merit in their inclusion. Ipswich is in Massachusetts, USA. The town has a long history of lace making and it was certainly a well established industry in the 1700s. In general the types of lace made in the area is described as "English looking, and along the lines of Bucks and Downton" Cotterall (1997)

The lace may well be English looking but the bobbins are quite unique and unlike any other lace bobbin. Not so much as regard to their overall shape or size; they are about 4 1/2 inches long and approximately 3/8 in diameter, but they are very light and this is because they are hollow!.

It is being hollow that is so unique. Many are made out of bamboo or reeds, but also they can be made out of willow and walnut, presumably locally available wood. It is not reported if those made from wood, as opposed to bamboo and reeds have been hollowed out. [I have made quite a few attempts to contact the museum and Marta Cotteral, but as yet have not managed to get a reply. If any reader has special knowledge of these bobbins, or can get answers to my questions on them, I would be very pleased to enrol them as "honorary researcher"!] They have an ill defined collar that leads into the neck. It is a single neck bobbin. They do not appear to have been decorated in any way whatsoever. The nearest comparable bobbin of English origin would be the Malmesbury. They have similarity in overall shape to the Malmesbury but is thicker, a little longer and, of course, hollow!