File:Beehive thimble (FindID 661936).jpg

English: A complete copper-alloy beehive shaped thimble dating to the late Medieval or early Post-Medieval period, c. AD1450-1550. The thimble is rather squat and domed, with nine rows of spiral hand-punched dimples above a plain raised band which forms its bottom edge. There are more punched dimples on the top, but most of them are difficult to make out due to white concretions. They are common items to imilar items were recorded under SF-B21EDC and IOW-B04923.

Thimbles have been in common use in England from the 14th century onwards and Geoff Egan (2010, p.265) states that no medieval thimble indisputably dating from before the 14th century has been found in England. They were originally used to protect the finger used to push a needle through sewing material and were commonly used by dressmakers and tailors. From the circa 16th century onwards silver thimbles were regarded as an ideal gift for ladies and have become gifts and collector's items made of a variety of materials including base and precious metals, and china. The pits on the surface of thimbles were originally created by the technique of hand punching though, in the mid-18th century they were machine-made.

Holmes (1988) in Figure 2b illustrates a similar shaped and decorated thimble which he dates to the 15th to mid 16th century and calls it a heavy duty thimble.

Holmes, E.F., 1988Sewing ThimblesFinds Research Group 700-1700 Datasheet 9