Learn More About Thimbles

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I reached my 100th thimble topic in June 2024. It took me 22 years. 

The topics began in 2002. The first topic was on Francesca character head thimbles, which were a popular collectable 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 made for sewing and were available from jewellers and haberdashers. Collectors could source 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 the mid 2010s. British china makers like Royal Worcester and Wedgwood etc were joined by the prolific thimblemakers like Felix Morel, Woodsetton and Tony Bouchet. Now I have been researching the smallest producers of thimbles from the 1980s, so that they don't go unacknowledged. Many of the thimbles made for this market were never intended to be used for sewing and many have no makers marks.

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 these thimbles.

I have a full set of the TTG catalogues and they have often formed the basis of photos for 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. The topics range in length from two pages to 120 pages.

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

Your contributions are highly prized.

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​There are 110 different thimble topics for you to browse and contribute to. Happy browsing

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New topics for May: 

Roger Harrison of Kelso thimbles 1983-1988

Iles' handpainted and decaled plastic thimbles

Roger Gibbons pewter thimbles 1984-1985​

Ian Parry  (Coventry) thimbles 1984-1989

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

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