Category Archives: SCA Life

Thimbles Part 6

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So now we have an idea of what was going on in Europe, but what about the areas of Middle Eastern and Slavic influence, that were actually closer to the source of silk?

The earliest metal finger protectors that we find were in China, where steel needles originated. These took the form of split thimble rings, like the one in this picture.

The first solid thimble ring that I have been able to locate is a 2nd century BC Scythian thimble.

Thimble rings continued to be used alongside thimbles. Some were solid and some had soldered seams.

I have to admit. I was really delighted when I saw my first pictures of some of the non-European thimbles. I love the shapes and designs! The thimbles created in the Islamic empire are generally divided into three categories:  Abbasid-Levantine, Hispano-Moresque, and Turko-Slavic. This is not a hard-and-fast set of categories, there are variations within each style, but sometimes categories are useful in order to gain a general understanding of a form. You can definitely see cultural influences in the different styles.

Abbasid-Levantine Thimbles are the earliest form of closed cast thimbles that we have good documentation for, dating from the ninth through 12th centuries. They are found throughout Asia Minor, particularly in Israel, Syria, Trans-Jordan, Iraq, and Iran. Some researchers believe that it was this type of thimble that was brought back to Europe by the returning crusaders. But it took a long time for thimbles to really catch on in Europe, and even longer in England.

Hispano-Moresque thimbles date from the 10th to the 15th century. They are produced through lost wax casting and tend to be rather heavy. These thimbles are found predominantly in western north Africa and Spain, but have also been found in France and in Viking settlements as far north as Denmark. They have a pointed top and some people think that the dimples are actually carved into the wax models, rather than being hammered in after manufacture. The bands of these thimbles are often decorated with engraving or stamped geometric or floral patterns.

The Turko-Slavic thimbles are generally found in sites dating from the 13th through the 18th centuries. They are found throughout the eastern Mediterranean as well as in Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. Most of them were cast in bronze, using the lost wax technique. Occasionally an iron thimble is found. They are characterized by their large bulbous shape and sometimes have a hole in the top. This picture demonstrates the style. The thimble on the right is iron.

This brief journey through the world of thimbles and thimble rings has been an interesting research experience for me. Sooo much bad and out of date information, was readily available. even finding decent pictures, of anything other than my own, predominantly English, collection was a challenge.

As a re-enactor specializing in pre-1600 studies I would be tempted to just use a thimble ring. That would be “safe” for just anywhere, except the Romans.

But we can ask: Were there other sorts of needle pushers besides thimbles?

Thimbles Part 4

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Last time we asked: What other sorts of details can we find on thimbles?

Well the most obvious thing about thimbles, other than the basic shape, is the dimples. They come in a moderately extensive selection of sizes and shapes, although the most common shape is “sort of round”. Now that may sound a bit vague, but you need to realize that the shape and size of the dimples is dependent on three things: the shape of the punch used to make the dimple, the amount of force used to hammer the punch, and the softness of the metal that the thimble form is made of. As a punch is used over and over it may deform to “less than round” or it may never have been completely round in the first place. Here is a picture showing some examples of the variations in size and shape of dimples that I have in my own thimble collection.

From left to right we have: “sort of round” that is placed so closely that there is almost no space between dimples, chisel lines that are placed in relatively neat lines, random small dimples, small dimples that are applied in sections to create a pattern, and triangular dimples that progress in a spiral around the thimble.

We can also look at the top of these thimbles to see how the dimples are arranged. This picture shows exactly the same thimbles in the same order across the page. They all have a spiraled top, except for the “random” pattern thimble, which continues to be random on the top, and the shaped patterned thimble, which is tonsured and has a hole.

Over time the complexity of the European thimble form increased. The ridge at the bottom of the thimble, which was an occasional accidental result of the manufacturing process in early thimbles, became a purposeful feature. A decorative band also began to be added, and especially in silver thimbles, this area was often elaborately engraved.

At the very end of the 1500’s the bottom ridge became a location for maker’s marks, and this tradition has continued into the modern era. Entire books have been written about the various makers of thimbles and where they were from.

The main source of thimbles in Europe was Germany. This was due largely to a readily available source of bronze. By 1373 Nuremberg had become the center of this thimble production and there were large numbers of workshops in the city. They developed a specialized form of metal called latten, which was an alloy of copper and calamine, and was very easy to form. In some countries the guild systems had separate guilds for thimble makers who worked in latten, and those who worked with other metals. There are several pictures demonstrating the production of thimbles in Germany. This woodcut is from a book of trades that was printed in 1568 in Frankfurt, Germany (owned by the British Museum).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Time: How can we tell a pre-1600’s thimble from a later thimble?

Thimbles Part 3

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Last time we said next time: Thimble Rings

Persia had thimble rings before the 7th century and Byzantium before the 9th century AD. It appears that the earliest thimbles in the Middle East were made of camel bone – two camel bone ring-type thimbles have been found in Ctesiphon, near Baghdad, Iraq. This city was destroyed in the 7th century AD, and never reoccupied.

The most common surviving form of historical thimble in Europe is one made of metal. The oldest thimbles that were actually manufactured in Europe were most likely actually rings with no top, like these from my personal collection.

Number 1 and 3 are made from thin sheet, without a solder line and numbers 2 and four are cast bronze. Numbers 1, 2 and 4 are all metal detector finds from England. And number 3 is a metal detector find from Bulgaria. Number 1 is partially squashed. This form of thimble continues down to this day. And can sometimes be elaborately decorated.

Thimble rings could be cast in bronze or lead alloy, or made from some sort of copper alloy sheet (bronze or brass). The thimble rings that were made of sheet could either be a strip that was soldered to form a ring, or a donut, that was stretched and hammered to form a ring.

Now, if you learned how to sew with a closed end thimble, and especially if you are self taught, you may be wondering how a “thimble ring” could possibly work. Well, if you watch this YouTube video, by a professional tailor, on how to properly use a regular thimble, you will see that his technique does not require a thimble with an end.

Thimbles actually come in an amazing selection of shapes and sizes. This picture is more of my personal collection, all relatively early thimbles from England.

You will notice the variation in profile, dimple size and dimple shape. The thimble that is 3rd from the left, and a bit squashed is characteristic of most of the earliest thimbles that we see in England. They are relatively shallow round topped thimbles. Over time we see increasingly deeper thimbles with steeper sides.

Here is a picture of the same thimbles from the top.

This picture shows some very important information about the thimbles. First, you will note that a couple of the thimbles have holes in the top. This is part of the manufacturing process and generally disappears as the thimble making techniques become more developed. Some of the thimbles have an “un-dimpled” section on the top. This is called a tonsure (think of a monk’s haircut), and is also generally a sign of an earlier thimble. You will also notice that the patterns of dimples on the individual thimbles can be very different. Some spiral down from the top, while others are divided into sections, and still others are in neat rows.

Next Time: What other sorts of details can we find on thimbles?