Learn More About Thimbles

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As I approach my 100th thimble topic, this is a look back over the topics which I began in 2002. The first one was on Francesca character head thimbles, which were so popular that year.

Sterling silver thimbles were created primarily by four British makers between 1870 and World War II: James Fenton, Henry Griffith, Charles Horner and James Swann. Their thimbles were meant for sewing and were available from jewellers and haberdashers. Modern collectors would source their antique thimbles thru the Thimble Society of London, owned by Bridget McConnel (1981-2009).

In 1980 the collectable thimbles market evolved and has lasted until now. British china makers like Worcester and Wedgwood etc were joined by the prolific thimblemakers like Felix Morel, Woodsetton and Tony Bouchet.

Those makers (both large and small, including talented craftsmen) were in a symbiotic relationship with The Thimble Guild (1983-2018), which Arthur Bell owned in Biggar Scotland. Franklin Mint and Thimble Collectors Club etc also played their part in disseminating thimbles.

I have a full set of these catalogues and they have formed the basis of photos for all my topics. A third source of information and photos are collectors around the world, who have been extraordinarily generous in sharing photos from their thimble collections (listed as Contributors at the end of each topic).

Collectors now are dependent on the second-hand market to source their thimbles and markets like eBay have given me a wealth of photos accessible nowhere else.

About one third of the topics are thematic (covering many different thimble makers) – the rest are about British and Australian makers.

THANK YOU one and all for making this the most visited thimble site on the web.

Your contributions are highly prized.

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​A total of 96 different thimble topics for you to browse and maybe to contribute. Happy browsing

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New topic: Tony Bouchet's agateware thimbles (Jersey)

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Horn and bone thimbles

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Click on the accompanying photo to learn more about each topic.

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love Sue