Metal Sewing Needles Found in Britain by Brian Read
Table of Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 PAS object type(s) to be used
- 2.one PAS nomenclature and sub-classifications to be used
- 3 Terms to utilize in the description
- 4 Taking the dimensions
- 5 Roman thimbles
- vi Ring-blazon thimbles
- 6.1 Medieval ring-type thimbles
- vi.two Late medieval and early postal service-medieval ring-type thimbles
- half dozen.3 Later postal service-medieval ring-blazon thimbles
- 7 Domed thimbles
- 7.1 Medieval domed thimbles
- vii.ane.1 The earliest medieval domed thimbles
- 7.1.ii 14th-century domed thimbles
- 7.1.three 15th-century thimbles
- vii.1.4 Dating a medieval thimble
- 7.2 Post-medieval domed thimbles
- 7.2.1 16th- and early 17th-century thimbles
- seven.two.two Makers' marks on early on post-medieval thimbles
- seven.ii.3 17th-century thimbles
- 7.2.four Late 17th- and early 18th-century thimbles
- vii.ii.5 Subsequently 18th- and 19th-century thimbles
- 7.1 Medieval domed thimbles
- eight Palm guards
- 8.one Copper alloy or atomic number 26 palm guards
- 8.two Lead palm guards
- ix Central references
Introduction
A thimble is an object used to protect the finger and button the needle through the cloth or leather when sewing. The earliest known use of the discussion is 15th century, simply the word is Old English in origin, and related to the word for thumb.
The primary division in thimbles is between the open, band type and the domed, closed blazon. Domed thimbles tin can have a small hole in the acme.
It is relatively piece of cake to put thimbles into different types based on size, shape and style of indentations – but less easy to date them, considering the dissimilar shapes and sizes may relate more to function than to engagement. Few have been found in dated archaeological contexts.
The best book on the bailiwick is Read 2018, which has thoroughly reviewed all the existing literature and which offers clear and evidence-based dates. This guide is heavily based on Read 2018.
PAS object blazon(southward) to be used
Use THIMBLE for both the conventional sewing thimble with domed or airtight top, and the open up-topped ring-type thimble or sewing band.
Nosotros are also currently using the term THIMBLE for leather-workers' or canvas-makers' palm guards (Read 2013; Read 2018, 76-82).
Occasionally a thimble can be found filled with atomic number 82, evidently for re-use as a weight. In this example, following the normal PAS rule that objects are recorded according to their last use, use WEIGHT.
PAS nomenclature and sub-classifications to exist used
If y'all are recording a ring-type thimble, please add the word 'band' to the classification field. For palm guards (also chosen palm irons) delight add 'palm baby-sit'. Otherwise there is no need to fill the classification field in.
Terms to use in the description
A thimble consists of a rim, sides and a top (which tin can likewise be called a cap or crown). The rim can be thickened in a diverseness of ways (such as turned over, or with a ridge) or unthickened. Wait out for decoration around the rim (such as a groove). Any notches or folds in the rim should be advisedly described, as they are thought to be testify for manufacturing processes.
A ring-type thimble will have a lower rim and an upper rim.
The sides may be straight or curved, but will usually taper towards the acme.
The sides will exist covered with indentations, and the size, shape and layout of these should be carefully described. There may likewise be decoration on the sides. The height may be fabricated separately; it should also take the indentations advisedly described, as they may exist unlike in size, shape and layout to those on the sides.
The hardest thing to depict is probably the layout and shape of the indentations. These tin can be irregular, or in rows or columns, or in spirals. Spirals effectually the sides can either run to the right, or to the left, and are always described from the base of operations of the thimble. When describing spirals on the top, y'all tin can utilise clockwise or anti-clockwise, just do not forget to explain whether this direction runs from the centre or the edge.
The indentations tin can be rectangular, circular, oval, foursquare or many other shapes. The indentations on the sides may be a different shape to those on the height. If you lot can, describe how they were made. Exercise they look as if they have been individually punched, paw-drilled, or machine-made?
Decoration other than the indentations oftentimes includes grooves around the rim and betwixt the sides and the top. More complex decoration is not common, but can include reserved areas with no indentations, sometimes outlined with engraved lines; this is oftentimes known as strapwork.
Occasionally one thimble is found jammed inside another (eastward.g. LANCUM-EC9C69), which obviously makes it hard to meet or describe the inner one. Read has suggested that this may in fact be a metallic sleeve or liner, rather than a second functional thimble, so have this question in mind when you examine a double thimble (Read 2018, 26).
Taking the dimensions
If the thimble is circular in cross-section, delight note the maximum bore and the height in the relevant boxes. Normally the maximum diameter will be at the rim, but do confirm this in the Description field. It tin besides be useful to annotation a minimum diameter, usually at the junction of sides and height, in the Description field.
If the thimble is squashed, the length and width fields can exist used to record the surviving dimensions. The thickness field is frequently used for the thickness of the sides of the thimble.
Roman thimbles
The just metal thimble that has been securely identified from a Roman context is a single sewing band from an early second-century context at Ephesus, which is thought to be a Chinese import (Wilson 2016). Information technology seems certain that the metallic thimble was not in use in Roman Europe.
Equally it is difficult to imagine sewing a great deal without any kind of finger protector, mayhap pre-medieval thimbles were made from leather. It is thought that the fine steel needle, invented in China for sewing fine silk, needed a metal thimble.
Ring-blazon thimbles
Medieval ring-type thimbles
The common utilize of ring-blazon thimbles may pre-date the common utilize of domed thimbles. Ii ring-type thimbles are among the earliest firmly dated thimbles from Great britain. One comes from a context of c. 1270-1350 in London (Egan 1998, 265-7, no. 814) and another incomplete instance is from a late 13th- or early 14th-century context in York (Ottaway and Rogers 2002, 2739-40, fig. 1347).
Other very early thimbles include a fragmentary ring-type thimble from an early on 13th-century context in Amsterdam (Read 2018, 3, citing Langedijk and Boon 1999, cat. no. 292).
Six other ring-type thimbles are known from late 14th- or early 15th-century contexts in London (Egan 1998, 265-vii, nos. 815-xx). Read has confirmed that several of the London examples have longitudinal soldered seams (Read 2018, vii).
Read also suggests (2018, vii) that some similar thimbles may take had simple overlapped seams with no solder, allowing for some size adjustment, so cheque carefully to see whether solder is nowadays.
Far more ring-type thimbles are made without a seam. Five examples in Read 2022 (nos. 6-10) strongly resemble the type with overlapping seam, with small, irregular, hand-fabricated indentations. These are probable to be of similar engagement to those with seams (c. 1200-1450 AD).
Tardily medieval and early post-medieval band-type thimbles
Brusque, stouter types of ring thimble, which await more than every bit if they have been cast, announced to start in the 15th century and continue throughout the 16th. Read dates those with horizontal, concentric rows or left-hand spirals to the 15th century (2018, 7) and those with right-hand spirals from about 1550 (2018, 12); during the early 16th century it seems either could be used (Read 2018, xxx).
Makers' marks can appear on 16th-century ring-type thimbles, and Read illustrates a selection (2018, 26).
It is non unknown to have a belatedly medieval or mail-medieval ring-blazon thimble with a seam, but it is unusual (Read 2018, 12); examples include SF6273 and IOW-0B2034.
Later postal service-medieval band-blazon thimbles
Ring-blazon thimbles connected to be fabricated in small numbers into the 17th and 18th centuries; they tend to have heavy, thickened lower rims and motorcar-made interlocking indentations (Read 2018, 17-20).
Domed thimbles
Medieval domed thimbles
The earliest medieval domed thimbles
The earliest domed thimbles are imports. HAMP-598DC8 is a 'Hispanic-Moresque' thimble, probably made in Spain, and the only 1 to be recorded on the PAS database so far. It has a distinctive conical shape, and probably dates to the 12th to 15th centuries.
Read as well illustrates a 'Turko-Slavic' thimble, not apparently recorded on the PAS database (2018, 23, no. 69), which may exist as early as the 13th century.
14th-century domed thimbles
Domed thimbles come into common use in Europe in the 14th century; the first reference to a Nuremberg thimble-maker is from 1373 (Read 2018, 31).
14th-century thimbles are generally short and broad. They can either have direct tapered sides and pointed tops, or curved sides and top (oft almost hemispherical). A few are faceted. They tend to have grooves around the rim, and small-scale, often widely spaced circular indentations in irregular vertical rows on the sides and in concentric rings or a spiral on the top.
The eye of the top may be bare of indentations, and may also accept a small primal hole, possibly to help concord the thimble yet while punching the indentations. Pierced thimbles come from contexts of 1330-1400 Ad in London (Egan 1998, 821-825), and a thimble with a pointed peak bare of indentations comes from a context of c. 1275-1400 in Norwich (Margeson 1993, no. 1457).
Apart from the grooves effectually the rim, decoration is non common, merely tin can include grooves or bands bare of indentations which divide the indentations into panels; this is sometimes known equally strapwork.
14th-century thimbles appear to have been made by hammering, and can be of quite thin canvas; they frequently do non survive well in the soil.
15th-century thimbles
During the 15th century, thimbles announced to become taller, heavier and thicker, with straighter sides and rounded tops. They can still have grooved ornament.
The central pigsty seems to have gone out of utilise by 1400, at least in London (Egan 1998, 266-7), although the top with heart bare of indentations is still found.
During the 15th century, thimbles can still have indentations in vertical rows on the sides, but they besides start to take indentations in a spiral running upwards towards the left.
Spirals are hard to describe, as they run one style when described acme to bottom and the other way when described bottom to top. We follow Read in describing from the bottom up, and then a left-hand spiral runs upwards to the left and a right-hand screw runs upwardly to the right.
Left-hand spirals start in the 15th century (Read 2018, vii), only right-manus spirals do not appear to be used until a few decades into the 16th century (Read 2018, 12). During the early on 16th century, it seems spirals could turn in either direction (Read 2018, thirty).
Many 15th-century thimbles look at first sight as if their indentations are in concentric horizontal rows, but close inspection usually shows that they are in a left-hand spiral. Adept examples of thimbles with left-paw spirals from excavated contexts include three from early 15th-century contexts in London (Egan 1998, nos. 829-831), and one from a mid to late 15th-century context in York (Ottaway and Rogers 2002, 2739-40, no. 14186).
Dating a medieval thimble
There may be a tendency to appointment those with thin walls and smaller, more than irregularly spaced indentations to the 14th century and those with thick walls and larger, more neatly spaced indentations to the 15th century, just the two types may in fact be contemporary and used for different purposes (as pointed out by Biddle 1990, 805). Many medieval thimbles volition not be datable more precisely than c. 1300-1500 AD.
Post-medieval domed thimbles
16th- and early 17th-century thimbles
16th-century thimbles continue the tendency towards sturdy, tall thimbles with straight wall and adequately flat conical or rounded tops and big indentations. Indentations can be a larger diverseness of shapes and are once again in a spiral, but the management of the spiral switches from left-hand to correct-hand at some signal. Read puts this at c. 1550 (2018, 12) but as the 3 domed thimbles from the Mary Rose all appear to take right-hand spirals, and the Mary Rose sank in 1545, it might exist safer to engagement correct-manus spirals to the century from c. 1520 AD (Gardiner and Allen 2005, fig. 8.xxx).
Many thimbles that can be dated to the 16th century are relatively heavy-duty, only there are as well lightweight thimbles. Ane blazon of lightweight thimble has a right-hand screw of small-scale indentations higher up a zone of stamped ornamentation. An case was found on the Mary Rose, which sank in 1545 (Gardiner and Allen 2005, 329-40, no. 81 A0807), and Read illustrates several more (2018, 41-43). Some examples on the PAS database are shown beneath.
Although many thimbles are thought to take been imported from Nuremberg, it is possible that some may have been made in England.
The aforementioned traditions of thimble-making seem to have connected into the 17th century, as thimbles from 17th-century contexts in London (Egan 2005, 132-3, nos. 638-647) are not immediately distinguishable from those from 16th-century contexts (Egan 2005, 131-2, nos. 621-637). At the moment, their end appointment is uncertain, merely information technology seems sensible to requite a rounded century to thimbles with right-hand spirals, so c. 1520-c. 1620.
It is helpful to add the sub-period 'early' when recording an early mail-medieval thimble.
Makers' marks on early post-medieval thimbles
The spiral of indentations frequently starts at the lesser with a maker'south mark, common from most 1520 to almost 1620 (Read 2018, 12). The Nuremberg Guild of Thimblemakers, set up in 1537, required all thimbles to carry the mark of the master that made them (Holmes 1988, iii; Read 2018, 31) but this does non mean than none were marked before this and all were marked after.
The state of knowledge virtually Nuremberg makers' marks is summarised past Read (2018, 30-34). Although information technology is often assumed that all were imported from Nuremberg, this has not been proved. Read illustrates several (2018, 16; 39-43) and, as they oftentimes do not photograph well, if you tin establish a parallel in Read 2022 it would be very helpful. Close-ups of the marks, as below, also aid.
17th-century thimbles
In London, thimbles from 17th-century contexts (Egan 2005, 132-3, nos. 638-647) are non immediately distinguishable from those from 16th-century contexts (Egan 2005, 131-2, nos. 621-637), and it seems that the type with indentations in a correct-hand screw connected to be made until at least c. 1620 AD.
In kingdom of the netherlands, a new type of thimble was developed around 1600, made in 2 pieces with a longitudinal seam joining the sides and a second seam around the peak; these accept machine-made indentations in an interlocking blueprint.
The mechanical 'knurling wheel' used in their manufacture was not apparently invented until 1609 (Read 2018, 61), and examples from early excavations in Amsterdam, are all from contexts of 1600-1650 (Baart 1977, 145-7). Langedijk and Boon (1999, 75-77) suggest an earlier date, with parallels from 16th-century contexts in Amsterdam (quoted by Read 2018, 61; the Langedijk and Benefaction reference has not been checked).
The new Dutch thimbles seem to accept influenced the development of paw-made 2-piece thimbles, which Read sees equally English products (2018, 49-l, nos. 197-234). These tin can be fabricated from silver or copper blend, and often take decoration, perchance of strapwork (reserved strips outlined with grooves) or engraved lines in a brickwork pattern (equally on IOW-27BDA2). They also feature new shapes of indentation, notably annulets (where circular indentations have a raised rim).
Late 17th- and early 18th-century thimbles
From about 1650, Dutch thimbles were fabricated in one slice, and this technology was brought to England when John Lofting, a Dutch immigrant, was granted an English patent for a thimble-making machine in 1693. Despite the one-piece construction, thimbles of c. 1650-1750 retain ridges between the sides and the tiptop where the seam would take been.
Holmes quotes Lofting'southward production figures as two one thousand thousand per twelvemonth (1988, three), and Read illustrates several (2018, nos. 257-271), but there are few definite examples on the PAS database; two are shown below.
Read points out that Lofting's products cannot exist distinguished from Dutch thimbles, and that probably both were in use in England in the 18th century (Read 2018, 63). Lofting'south manufactory continued to produce thimbles at least until his expiry in 1742.
At that place are also several one-piece silver thimbles that might date to c. 1650-1750 AD, and a pick is shown below. It seems intuitively likely that at that place should exist variants in copper alloy, but these are hard to find on the PAS database.
After 18th- and 19th-century thimbles
From c. 1750 onwards, product seems to have shifted to Birmingham (Beaudry 2006, 96). Afterward 18th- and 19th-century thimbles have no ridge or other partition between the meridian and the sides, and the top has a distinctive square 'waffle' pattern.
Equally time goes on, they can become very flimsy, but most have rims that take been turned out, giving extra force to the base. They can occasionally have inscriptions; FORGET ME NOT is one of the commoner ones. Children's sizes become popular in the 19th century.
These thimbles are very common, and are less than 300 years old. They should only be recorded on the PAS database if they are of unusual interest.
Palm guards
Copper blend or atomic number 26 palm guards
These accept been fully and authoritatively researched by Brian Read (Read 2013; Read 2018, 76-82).
They are often chosen 'palm irons', firstly because some were made from fe and secondly because they were stock-still to a leather sailmaker'southward palm, or protective glove.
As almost all of the PAS'southward examples are made from copper alloy, nosotros utilize the more general term 'palm baby-sit'. This term is not available in the mda thesaurus, and and so in the Object Type field we use THIMBLE. Please add 'palm guard' to the classification field.
Copper alloy palm guards on the PAS database so far are circular, with large foursquare or circular indentations, and with holes, pierced lugs or unpierced lugs for attachment. Not all have been found near the coast or a port, and Read points out that those working on the sail sails of windmills (or indeed whatever other heavy sheet items such as tents, tarpaulins, sacks and awnings) would likewise have found palm guards useful (2018, 77).
Read concludes (from documentary and shipwreck testify) that iron or copper-alloy palm guards were in utilise from at least c. 1650, and they are still in use today. Read has classified them into six master types (2018, 77-82), simply equally we record and then few it is not absolutely necessary to ascertain the type.
Lead palm guards
Far more common than copper-alloy palm guards are what Read calls 'so-called palm guards' made from lead (Read 2018, 83). These come in a multifariousness of sizes and shapes, but are usually more or less oval, with one flatter and one more convex face. There are ii main types.
The first type often has i or 2 peachy flat-based round depressions, near 10-16mm beyond, on one face (usually the convex face). These objects tend to be about 80 ten 60mm, and relatively thin. Several take i more than or less directly edge, and many announced to have been bandage in a shell (perhaps swan mussel, oyster, scallop or crab).
We currently record these as THIMBLE with 'palm guard' in the nomenclature field, but their use is very uncertain. Despite the early confidence of Bailey (1993, 64-five), Brian Read points out that in that location is no evidence to confirm their use equally palm guards in any maritime or country-based industry (2018, 83). Chronological evidence is also lacking, but Read suggests a post-medieval appointment (2018, 83) and nearly of those recorded on the PAS database are given a date-range of 17th to 19th century.
It is surprising that the deliberately cast round depressions are ordinarily found on the convex face, as this is thought to exist the part that fits against the paw. DOR-E5AEC6 is unusual in having smaller indentations inside a single big circular depression, adding weight to an estimation every bit a palm guard, but again these are on the convex face.
It is too uncertain why they seem to take been cast in shells. IOW-A9A877 and SUR-BF7905 show that casting lead in oyster shells was certainly washed from time to fourth dimension, simply whether IOW-A9A877 and SUR-BF7905 themselves are palm guards, or not, is uncertain.
In that location are occasional examples with circular depressions but of different shapes, not oval.
The second type is again plano-convex, just thicker and more than regular in shape. These are unremarkably drop-shaped, only can too be round or oval. They usually have no marks at all on them, but can sometimes have an irregular dimple on the flat face up, perhaps acquired by the pb shrinking equally it solidified. For these, it might be worth considering a part as a weight or ingot instead.
There is little evidence for any function for these items, simply PUBLIC-6F2F9B appears to take been bandage in a textile-lined mould, SUSS-3D9994 has marks apparently caused past use, and PUBLIC-A83CEF is marked with the initials EB. KENT-F0560B is driblet-shaped just with two circular depressions, suggesting that the two types may exist related.
Key references
Read 2018
Source: https://finds.org.uk/counties/findsrecordingguides/textile-equipment/
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