POST MEDIEVAL THIMBLE

1600

A Post Medieval silver thimble in three fragments dating from the Late 17th Century. The Thimble is constructed from silver sheet. There are decorative circular punches running up the sides and over the top of the thimble. The marker's initials I.H are within a lozenge above a heart shaped cartouche with a stylised bird looking back towards the heart on either side. The cartouche would normally be personalised by engraving the owner's initials. In this case it is plain however there are some crude scratches that could represent the letters 'A' 'F'. There is a fine strip of silver with a 'D' cross-section applied to the lower edge to form a base rim but it is coming away in the broken section. There is a small amount of wear but the thimble has been broken into three fragments probably by ploughing and the fragments were dispersed and found a few metres apart by two members of West Kent Detector Club. The thimble dates to c. AD 1600-1725.Ref. History Beneath Our Feet, Brian Read, Anglia Publishing Ipswich 1995, page 153 no. 1037, Detector Finds 2, Gordon Bailey, Greenlight Publishing 1993, page 12-14 no. 25-29 and Collectors Guide to Thimbles, Bridget McConnel, Bracken Books 1996, page 25-26.The main fragment of the thimble is 14.36mm long, 23.39mm wide, 0.92mm thick, diameter approx. 16mm and the whole thimble weighs 3.7g.