When we spend days at the flat either recovering from excursions, or when Christine is working, I try to research and learn things about what we saw and/or did. During our excursion to the St. Catherine’s Monastery, we saw a craftswoman working on a piece of Maltese lace. I remember from our visit here in 1985 that Maltese lace is to be treasured. It is quite beautiful and rather unique in style. That got me interested in learning more about it.

The Maltese word for lace is bazzilla. In its earliest form, lace was made with a needle, needlelace. The Knights of St. John were partial to lace as a clothing accessory. Lace was also used to embellish fashionware of nobility and ecclesiastical vestments. Originally, lace probably came to Malta from Italy. In the early 19th century, after the defeat of the Knights by Napoleon, and then the start of British rule after the defeat of Napoleon, there was quite an economic depression in Malta and the practice of needlelace declined because no one could afford to buy it. Then in the mid-1800s, a new revival in lace making occurred, but this lace was made with bobbins. Needlelace was exceptionally time-consuming and so a new method using bobbins was introduced whereby the thread, wound on to long wooden bobbins, could be woven. Bobbin lace is significantly faster to produce.
Lace making was especially promoted on Gozo and the local women were taught to make lace as a means for improving their standard of living through the selling of lace. And so bobbin lace became a Maltese, and especially a Gozitan, tradition.
One tidbit I read involved Queen Victoria in London. There was an Exposition of Industries in 1881 and Malta sent samples of lace, among other things. Apparently, Queen Victoria took a great liking to the Maltese lace. And, of course, when the monarch likes, wears or uses something, everyone else does, too. So that really advanced the demand for Maltese lace. We were aware of the Exposition of Industries because we were in a building built for that exposition when we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The craftswoman at the monastery had some beautiful items on display. I didn’t have a chance to photograph much, but here’s one piece that is a bit unique.

I also found some nice pictures online related to bazzilla, so I copied them here.
Lace is made on a pillow which is locally known as ‘trajbu’, which is made up of a bundle of dry straw stalks. Each trajbu is about 60 centimeters long. The bundle is then wrapped up in a piece of hessian cloth and sewn up very tightly. The next step is covering of the pillow with cotton, several sheets of newspaper, and flour paste. The lace pillow is then left in the direct rays of the sun to dry. It is finally covered in strong brown paper. When the trajbu is ready the pattern is pinned on. The lace thread is then woven around pins that are inserted on the pattern to guide the intersections of thread direction. (From: Joseph Camilleri, A Taste of Maltese Folklore, 2015.) I would image that this description is the traditional trajbu used long ago, and that current day lace makers might use other materials.
I was able to get a bit of video of the craftswoman creating the lace. Those fingers and bobbins move around pretty quickly and the bobbins clicking together makes a lovely sound, although in his video all you hear is the guy reading a welcoming paragraph.
Here’s a closeup of the pattern and all the pins used to mark the pattern. Seems quite complicated!

And one last thing. When we went to the Mdina Medieval festival last month, we stumbled upon a very interesting museum about tools used in Malta over the centuries. There was a very large display case of bobbins used by lace makers. There was also some examples of delicate lace made decades ago. I didn’t really know what all the bobbins were about when I saw them, but now I understand more about how important this tool is, especially to women in Malta and Gozo. In many instances, making lace has been, and is, a vital source of income for families here. And thank goodness for the tourists who buy up the exquisite lace pieces being made. I wish I could afford to buy some.
This was such an interesting post to me, Linda ! I remember seeing the “pillow” once and all the bobbins, but there was no explanation about process and at that time lace was not my favorite thing …The stupidity of the young !
I am loving your adventures and learning so much from you !! Many thanks and do keep it going !
By the way, I will soon be doing one of those primitive firings you mentioned with some young folks who are with a local history museum and want the experience !