Engraved with contemporary block initials PS, marked on interior SV a pellet below in a heart.<br /><br />

Provenance:<br />
Sotheby's, New York, 30 June - 1 July, 1983, lot 92<br /><br />

This thimble is particulary rare in that most thimbles made in the 18th century are unmarked, especially those made in America. Even in England, where there have been stringent hallmarking practices in place since the 14th century, thimbles were exempt from hallmarking laws due to their small size. A gold thimble by Jacob Hurd, circa 1730-40, is in the Garvan collection at the Yale Univeristy Art Gallery, and another attributed to Paul Revere Jr., circa 1805, is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The present thimble and the Hurd thimble at Yale appear to be the only surviving 18th century New England thimbles that bear hallmarks.