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Description: | A copper alloy thimble of Medieval. It is dome shaped (hemispherical) and measures 13.56mm in height, and 18.20mm in diameter at the rim. The rim is unthickened, decorated with a single incised circumferential groove and at one side has been slightly flattened due to damage within the plough soil. The sides of the thimble are straight but slope inwards slightly towards a shoulder approximately three quarters of the way up the thimble. At the shoulder the sides turn inwards towards the flattened circular top. The sides are decorated with incised diagonal parallel double lines that join at the top to create a series of interlaced triangles. These lines create four triangular panels around the thimble that extend upwards from the rim to the shoulder, with four further lozenge shaped panels that extend from the rim to the top of the thimble. Hand punched circular indentations are arranged in vertical rows to fit neatly within the confines of each panel. At the top of the thimble the diagonal lines meet and create a four pointed star shape that outlines the open space at the top. A single large circular hole is placed at the centre of the star and this was presumably intended to, but did not, pierce the top since a corresponding knop can be felt on the interior of the thimble. In each of the four points of the star are neatly punched circular indentations. The interior of the thimble is concave and the walls measure 1.17mm in thickness, the entire object weighing 5.39g.
Thimbles of similar shape to this example are often referred to as 'skeps' or 'beehive' thimbles. The dome shaped appearance and relatively short sides of this example indicate that it is chronologically early for copper alloy thimbles, probably dating to the 14th or 15th centuries AD (see Holmes, 1991: pp. 1-2; Egan, 1998: pp. 265). An exact parallel for this example has not been identified. It is close in terms of shape with examples from Medieval London (Egan, 1998: no. 821), Medieval Norwich (Margeson, 1993: no. 1457) and in Holmes (1991: fig. 1). Holmes also notes that decoration in addition to the punched indentations is particularly prominent during the 15th to 16th centuries AD (Holmes, 1991: pp. 3). It is probable that this example is of 14th-15th century AD date, and seems to be particularly unusual in terms of the decoration evident on the sides and top. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Brown, Andrew | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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