THIMBLE

Medieval cast copper alloy thimble. The thimble has tapering sides and rounded shoulders above which the convex top continues in a shallow, straight slope meeting at a rounded point in the centre. There is a hand drilled and slightly irregular spiral of small, closely-spaced, circular pits startng at the crown and becoming more confused at the sides where the pits appear to be arranged in vertical lines. The crown is plain with no central piercing. The rim is slightly uneven but with no obvious notches. It measures 17.4mm in diameter at the base, 12.94tall, 1.49mm thick and it weighs 1.69 grams. Margeson (1993:188, no.1457) illustrates a similar example from a 1275-1400 AD context. Holmes (1988:1, Fig 1c) suggests this is a thimble type for light work in use c.1350-1450 AD.