Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing. In the Victorian period, an ornate silver thimble would be given as an engagement gift, but silver proved too soft for withstanding pins. In 1885, Charles Horner patented a new silver thimble with a steel core which became the Dorcas thimble and enabled a functional but still decorative thimble. This particular thimble collection includes two Charles Horner thimbles. The collection was owned by Kallista woman, Beryl Collett (1925-2018). Some may have originally belonged to her mother (Hettie Collett nee Thorn) who was a talented milliner and from whom Beryl first learnt her considerable handicraft skills. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or hand-made by Beryl and which have been donated to the Museum.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

This is a collection of eight thimbles. Most are ornately decorated with raised detail. All are silver except for one made of brass. Two are Dorcas thimbles manufactured by Charles Horner and two are made by silversmiths in Taxco (Mexico). A German-made thimble has glass in its cap. The thimbles vary in age from c. early to mid-20th century.

beryl collett, hettie collett, thimbles

Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing. In the Victorian period, an ornate silver thimble would be given as an engagement gift. This thimble is part of a thimble collection which was owned by Kallista woman, Beryl Collett (1925-2018) and may have originally belonged to her mother (Hettie Collett nee Thorn) who was a talented milliner and from whom Beryl first learnt her considerable handicraft skills. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or hand-made by Beryl, and which have been donated to the Museum.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

Honeycomb pattern on the side of the thimble and a spiral honeycomb pattern on the top. Plain narrow band around the rim. Silver.

On the outside of the band: '6' and (?)'CM' and three (?)hallmarks. The first one is of an animal.

beryl collett, hettie collett, thimbles

Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing In the Victorian period, an ornate silver thimble would be given as an engagement gift, but silver proved too soft for withstanding pins. In 1885, Charles Horner patented a new silver thimble with a steel core which became the Dorcas thimble and enabled a functional but still decorative thimble. This particular thimble was made by Charles Horner post 1905 and is part of a thimble collection which was owned by Kallista woman, Beryl Collett (1925-2018). Some may have originally belonged to her mother (Hettie Collett nee Thorn) who was a talented milliner and from whom Beryl first learnt her considerable handicraft skills. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or made by Beryl.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

Silver thimble with a dense floral design on the side and top of thimble. Plain band around rim of thimble. Markings indicate it is a Size 4, Charles Horner thimble.

Bottom band imprinted: 'CH 4 / DORCAS'.

beryl collett, hettie collett, thimbles, charles horner

Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing In the Victorian period, an ornate silver thimble would be given as an engagement gift, but silver proved too soft for withstanding pins. In 1885, Charles Horner patented a new silver thimble with a steel core which became the Dorcas thimble and enabled a functional but still decorative thimble. This particular thimble was made by Charles Horner post 1905. The thimble collection was owned by Kallista woman, Beryl Collett (1925-2018). Some may have originally belonged to her mother (Hettie Collett nee Thorn) who was a talented milliner and from whom Beryl first learnt her considerable handicraft skills. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or hand-made by Beryl and which have been donated to the Museum.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

Silver thimble with a floral decorative design on top and side of thimble. Underneath that is a band of a pattern of repeated squares. Around the rim is a plain band with manufacturer's imprint. Markings indicate it is a Size 5, Charles Horner thimble.

On bottom band imprinted: 'CH 5 / DORCAS'.

beryl collett, hettie collett, thimbles, charles horner

Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing. In the Victorian period, an ornate silver thimble would be given as an engagement gift. The thimble collection was owned by Kallista woman, Beryl Collett (1925-2018). Some may have originally belonged to her mother (Hettie Collett nee Thorn) who was a talented milliner and from whom Beryl first learnt her considerable handicraft skills. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or made by Beryl and which have been donated to the Museum.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

Silver thimble with a honeycomb pattern on the side and a raised leaf pattern around the rim. Decorative blue glass top.

On the body imprinted: 'STERLING GERMANY 9'.

beryl collett, hettie collett, thimbles

Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing. In the Victorian period, an ornate silver thimble would be given as an engagement gift. This thimble was owned by Kallista woman, Beryl Collett (1925-2018) and may have originally belonged to her mother (Hettie Collett nee Thorn) who was a talented milliner and from whom Beryl first learnt her considerable handicraft skills. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or hand-made by Beryl and which have been donated to the Museum.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

Honeycomb pattern on the side of the thimble and a spiral honeycomb pattern on the raised top. Below the honeycomb pattern are two rows of plain bands with a groove between the bands. Silver. No visible hallmarks.

beryl collett, hettie collett, thimbles

Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing. In the Victorian period, an ornate silver thimble would be given as an engagement gift. This thimble was owned by Kallista woman, Beryl Collett (1925-2018) and may have originally belonged to her mother (Hettie Collett nee Thorn) who was a talented milliner and from whom Beryl first learnt her considerable handicraft skills. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or hand-made by Beryl and which have been donated to the Museum.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

Honeycomb pattern on the side of the thimble and a spiral honeycomb pattern on the top. Plain wide band around the turned-up rim. Brass. No visible markings.

beryl collett, hettie collett, thimbles

Thimbles have long been used as a shield for the fingertip when hand sewing. This thimble was made in Taxco, Mexico, a place famous for its silver work blending pre-Columbian motifs with baroque and art deco aesthetics. This thimble is part of a group of eight thimbles which belonged to Beryl Collett (1925-2018), a local woman with considerable handicraft skills and interests. These thimbles form part of a large and varied range of objects which were either collected by or hand-made by Beryl and which have been donated to the Museum.

This varied thimble collection has been collected during the long lifetime of a local woman who enjoyed needlework and lacemaking.

Taxco handmade sterling silver thimble with a very ornate pattern on the side. No band at rim. Thimble has a seam. The top has been damaged and repaired with solder.

Inside thimble is imprinted '15' followed by indiscernible maker's marks.

beryl collett, thimbles, taxco, mexico