Bodkins

Defining Attributes

A bodkin is a large, blunted needle with a long eye to accommodate ribbons and laces. In the 17th and 18th centuries, bodkins were important personal items for women. They were used to lace ribbons, decorative trims, corsets, and drawstrings, but sometimes women also displayed bodkins like jewelry by wearing them in their caps (Beaudry 2006; Sullivan 2004). According to Randall Holme’s 1688 Academy of Armory, bodkins were used by women to bind up their hair, and they were usually made of silver or gold, though the inferior classes had brass bodkins (Alcock and Cox 2000). Many women of high status owned inscribed silver bodkins, often pierced with a second hole to string on a decorative bauble or to accommodate threads or small cords (Beaudry 2006). Over time, bodkins seem to have lost their inscriptions and personal significance, though they continued in use as sewing tools. In the 18th and 19th centuries, bodkins could appear hung on chatelaines, or as part of matching sewing and needlework sets that might include needle cases, scissors, thimbles, stilettos, and thread winders (McConnel 1999; Sullivan 2004).

Particular styles of bodkins have not been assigned tight date ranges, but chronological information about bodkins shown on this site can be found by looking at the site summaries and context information provided for each artifact on this site.

Terminology

The term “bodkin” has been used to describe several different kinds of skinny, pointed instruments from hair pins and awls to daggers and arrowheads. This site concentrates only on the needle-like tools that have eye holes that are known as bodkins. Any other object that might have historically been called a bodkin would be classified by MAC Lab archaeologists using another term, such as “awl”, “stiletto”, “hair pin”, etc.

How to Use this Section

Very few bodkins have been found archaeologically in Maryland, so they are easily searched by looking at thumbnail photos of all examples. Click on any thumbnail for a larger version of the photo, close-up views of inscriptions and marks, and details on site context, date range, marks, and inscriptions. Click on any site number or name to link to a page summarizing that site’s history and excavation.

Authorship and Acknowledgements

The Bodkin section of the Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland webpage was written by Sara Rivers Cofield, Curator of Federal Collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab). Conversion to web format was completed by Sharon Raftery, MAC Lab Administrative Assistant. The author thanks MAC Lab staff members Patricia Samford, Ed Chaney, and Rebecca Morehouse, who provided editorial assistance and aided in locating artifacts. The author also thanks Mary C. Beaudry, author of Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing (Yale University Press, 2006), who first brought bodkins to the author’s attention.

References