TREASURE ANNU AL REPORT 2005/6 - Portable Antiquities Scheme

820. Lancing area, West sussex: 16th-century silver
spoon stem with acorn knop (2005 T556)
pAs ID: suss-428DA3
Found by Mr S Ellis while metal-detecting before 1996;
not Treasure, returned to finder.
D THORNTON
821. bishop’s Tawton, Devon: 16th–17th-century
silver-gilt ‘maidenhead’ spoon finial (2005 T210)
pAs ID: DEV-5F3AA3
Found by Mr M Welsh while metal-detecting in April
2005; Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon had
hoped to acquire but withdrew, returned to finder.
N POWELL
822. merton, Devon: 16th–17th-century silver-gilt
‘maidenhead’ spoon finial (2005 T63)
pAs ID: pAs-8EA0b2
Found by Mr S Maloney while metal-detecting in
October 2002; Barnstaple & North Devon Museum had
hoped to acquire but withdrew, returned to finder.
B McLEOD
823. unknown parish, Norfolk: 16th–17th-century
silver-gilt seal knop spoon terminal, inscribed FF
(2006 T532C) pAs ID: pAs-8Eb2D5
Retained by Customs at Harwich from a group
of Dutch detectorists in September 2005; to be
determined.
E DARCH
824. Wymondham, Norfolk: 16th–17th-century
silver-gilt baluster seal top spoon finial inscribed ‘·:
b :· / W · A’ (2006 T541) pAs ID: Nms-4bF492
Found by Mr M Turner while metal-detecting in
October 2006; disclaimed, returned to finder.
S J ASHLEY
825. Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk: 17th-century silver
spoon bowl with Norwich mark for 1637–8
(2005 T57) pAs ID: Nms-CD0Db7
Found by Mr C Mann while metal-detecting in January
2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
S J ASHLEY
826. Aylsham, Norfolk: 17th-century silver-gilt
probable spoon finial, inscribed ‘I.L. / 1630 / I.b.’
(2005 T354) pAs ID: Nms-6F67D2
Found by Mr S Clarkson while metal-detecting in
August 2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
B McLEOD
827. mid-Norfolk: 17th-century complete silver
slip-top spoon with marker’s mark ‘Ah’ (2005 T97)
pAs ID: Nms-CF9985
Found by Ms M Slaven while metal-detecting in
February 2005; disclaimed, generously donated to
Swaffham Museum by the finder.
A ROGERSON
828. Radway, Warwickshire: 17th-century silver
trifid-type spoon inscribed ‘*m*sm’ (2006 T184)
pAs ID: pAs-8EbED3
Found by the Edgehill Battlefield Trust as part of a
controlled detecting survey in March 2005. Disclaimed,
returned to finder; Warwickshire Museum hope to
acquire with the main site archive.
D THORNTON
829. ospringe, Kent: post-medieval silver spoon
fragment (2005 T339) pAs ID: KENT-Eb2EC0
Found by Mr D Button while metal-detecting in August
2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
B McLEOD
(XII) ThImbLEs
830. stroud area, hampshire: post-medieval silver
thimble or sewing ring (2006 T393)
Date: 16th–17th century
Discovery: Found by Mr P Child while metal-detecting
in February 2006.
Description: Silver thimble made from thin sheet,
punched decoration on most of the upper surface
except for plain band with maker’s mark, now illegible.
Length: 1.2cm.
Discussion: This may be a sewing ring, or a thimble
which is now missing its domed section.
Disposition: Petersfield Museum.
D THORNTON
831. Kingstone, herefordshire:
post-medieval silver thimble (2006 T170)
Date: 17th century
Discovery: Found by Mr S Sloane while metaldetecting
in February 2006.
Description: A thimble with waffle-shaped
indentations, the edge left plain, squashed out of shape.
On the back, opposite the join of the silver sheet used
to form the thimble, are engraved two putti supporting
a plain heart with maker’s or owner’s mark, possibly
RW above. Diameter: 18mm.
Discussion: Silver thimbles were used increasingly
by the European nobility and gentry during the 17th
century but surviving examples are rare given that
thimbles were much used and, when worn, were likely
to have been melted down for their bullion value. In
England, silver thimbles are documented as having
been donated by women on the Parliamentary side to
be melted down during the Civil War. Even later 17thcentury
English silver thimbles are rare, with few pieces
in the national collections in the British Museum and
the Museum of London.
Disposition: Hereford Museum and Art Gallery had
hoped to acquire but withdrew; to be returned to
finder.
D THORNTON
832. Wells area, somerset:
post-medieval silver thimble (2006 T137)
Date: Late 17th century
Discovery: Found by Mr M Wells while metal-detecting
in February 2006.
Description: A silver thimble with waffle-shaped
indentations but with a pattern of linked cables left
plain, and a plain band at part of the rim and plain disc
at the central point of dome. The thimble is in excellent
condition; given the regularity and depth of the
indentations, the thimble may have been made on a
lathe rather than punched by hand. Unmarked. Length:
29mm approx.
Discussion: See above for general discussion; this
piece has a good parallel of lesser quality, with linked
rectangles instead of cables, in the British Museum,
registration number 1921,2-17,9. An apparently similar
thimble is also depicted in a painting of a woman
sewing, attributed to Johannes van der Aack (1635–80)
in the National Gallery in London (Holmes 1985, fig. 8).
Disposition: Somerset County Museums Service had
hoped but withdrew; returned to finder.
D THORNTON
833. brailes, Warwickshire:
post-medieval silver thimble (2006 T228)
Date: 17th century
Discovery: Found by Mr P Akrill while metal-detecting
in March 2006.
Description: An elongated thimble made from
sheet soldered along the edges. The body and most
of the dome is punched with regular waffle-shaped
indentations suggesting working on a lathe; there is a
lathe centring mark at the top of the dome. A stepped
design in broad bands is left in reserve on the body.
The thimble has a plain rim, engraved with the
inscription in Roman capitals: LOOSE NO TIME.
A maker’s mark of an L is clear on the inside.
Length: 25mm.
Discussion: See above for general discussion; the
misspelt inscription here may imply that the thimble
was made in Holland for the English market or that it
was made by an immigrant worker. It has apparently
been recorded that 145,000 thimbles were imported
from Holland into England in one year, 1694. For this
information, and for a similar 17th-century thimble, see
Holmes (1985), pp. 37–8. Cheaper versions of this type
of thimble were also made in copper alloy.
Disposition: Warwickshire Museum.
D THORNTON
834. Godshill, Isle of Wight: 16th–17th-century
crushed silver thimble with winged beasts
(2005 T204) pAs ID: IoW-951252
Found by Mr R Oatley while metal-detecting in June
2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
F BASFORD
835. East of Colchester, Essex: 17th-century open
or ‘ring’ thimble, inscribed ‘b.b.’ (2006 T175)
pAs ID: Ess-E82591
Found by Mr B Purpura while metal-detecting in April
2006; disclaimed, returned to finder.
C McDONALD
836. Crondall, hampshire: 17th-century flattened
silver thimble inscribed ‘FEARE.GoD.AND.hoNouR.
ThE.KING.’ (2005 T376) pAs ID: suR-0A67E6
Found by Mr T Pettman while metal-detecting in
October 2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
A RICHARDSON
162 POST-MEDIEVAL POST-MEDIEVAL 163