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ANTIQUE SILVER CHARLES HORNER DORCAS THIMBLE RD 73626 FOR 1887 PAT 8 A sterling silver over a steel core thimble by the famous Charles Horner of Halifax, this time from his renowned ‘Dorcas’ range. This thimble is known as the ‘Diamond’ or Waffle Pattern top over a plain border – like a grid with a faceted centre on each square. It is probably from the very late Victorian era. Charles Horner was one of the four big English silver thimble makers and his is much sought after by thimble collectors. Charles Horner patented the steel-cored silver thimble and registered his famous trade name ‘Dorcas’. His manufacturing firm survived for about 100 years, finally going into voluntary liquidation in 1984. This makes his thimbles very collectable as there have been none made for nearly 30 years and they are becoming harder to find. In addition, this thimble will be of particular interest for the collector as it has the wrong Registered Design number! These ‘RD’ numbers are the design register numbers used in Great Britain and refer to the designs registered by Charles Horner in the late Victorian period. The RD number for the Charles Horner ‘Diamond’ pattern thimble was RD 73624. However, the RD number found on all these thimbles is RD 73626 – which was actually the one designated for a device for testing miners' lamps! In ‘British Registered Design Thimbles’, Norma Spicer and Diane Pelham Burn explain that, although the RD Number 73624 was registered on 11 th May 1887 by Charles Horner of Halifax for his ‘Diamond’ pattern thimble, a thimble of this design has yet to be discovered with its intended RD number. The large number that have been checked have the end number as being a six RD 73626 – as this thimble has. Nobody is quite sure how this happened but the fact remains that “... RD 73626 is actually for a metal cylinder for testing the safety of miner's lamps, registered by William Paterson of Durham." MARKS: The base of the thimble carries the marks “RD 73626” followed by “PAT 7”. MEASUREMENTS: This lovely piece stands at 2.2cm in height and 1.6cm in diameter. It weighs 9g. CONDITION: The condition is extremely good, especially when you consider how old it is. There are no holes, splits or dents and the base is a complete circle. It has the usual fine surface marks on the plain lower band that are common to silver as it is a very soft metal. This is one of the most collectable silver thimbles by the famous Charles Horner of Halifax, from the Victorian era. And it is in fabulous condition for a piece that is about 120 years old. This company’s thimbles are now becoming rarer and are much sought after, in any case. And this one will be of even greater interest to the collector because it has the wrong Registered Design or RD number!
Charles Horner Dorcas Silver Thimble with Incorrect Patent # of RD73626 - (7932
£40.00
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