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Bone China Thimbles  
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THERE ARE 32 "LEARN MORE ABOUT..." TOPICS
Brass Advertising | British Placenames | British Royalty on Thimbles | British Silversmiths | Charles May | Christmas | Coalport
Dorcas Thimble Boxes | Easter | Gadgets | Francesca | Hallmarked Thimbles set | 'Mother' | The World's Greatest Porcelain Houses
Royal Albert | Royal Crown Derby | Royal Doulton | Royal Worcester Handpainted Thimbles
Royal Worcester Decal Thimbles | S + H Foskett | Silver Advertising Thimbles | Spode | Stratnoid | SylvaC
Thimble Books | Thimble Collectors Club | Thimble Societies | Thimbles with Slogans
Thimblefuls | Victorian Silver Scenic Thimbles | Wedgwood Jasperware | Wedgwood Bone China

THERE ARE 22 PAGES OF THIMBLES & OTHER ITEMS TO BUY
aluminium 1 - books 1 - brass 1 - china 6 - display cases 1
gold 1 - needlework tools 2 - other collectables 1 - pewter 1 - plastic 1
silver 3 - steel & metal 1 - unusual materials 1 - wood 1


Coalport China Thimbles


I have always been attracted to good quality English china and Coalport bone china thimbles are no exception. Like Caverwall thimbles, they have a very identifiable shape. Coalport thimbles have domed apexes and rarely have gold-painted rims. The rim is flared and the china is slightly chunky, not being fine bone china. I am sure you too will recognise a Coalport thimble by its shape once you have looked at this page!

Coalport China was founded in 1795 by John Rose and Edward Blakeway, tho the 1750 date appears as part of their backstamp. The Coalport China Museum in Ironbridge is the site of the Coalport Pottery at Colebrookdale, Shropshire. The works was moved to Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire, known as The Potteries, in 1926. Coalport joined the Wedgwood Group in 1967 and today operates out of the Wedgwood site at Barlaston, where they have their own manufacturing unit and their own range of backstamps. With the liquidation of Waterford/Wedgwood in January 2009, I have no idea what will happen to the production of Coalport china.


A tourist thimble showing the Museum

According to John von Hoelle Coalport made thimbles during the nineteenth century but they were not marked. Bridget McConnel of the Thimble Society has identified the following nineteenth century handpainted thimbles as Coalport from the painting style. The earliest modern collectable thimbles date from 1978, which coincides with the start of modern thimble collecting. They were not a prolific thimble producer and thimbles are no longer being made. Well that is until 2007, when a much thinner bone china was used that previously and their gorgeous applied flowers, are being made.


19th C handpainted thimbles attributed to Coalport

A lot of confusion has arisen over the years over the naming of Coalport thimbles. Like other china thimble manufacturers, Coalport would have followed the patterns on the rest of their range. Certain of the thimbles are named inside, but when not, the names often are on the Coalport cardboard thimble boxes. It is always useful to refer to catalogues when Coalport thimbles were in production.

Coalport have thimbles with finely-made handpainted flowers attached and the series is known as "Flora Britanniae", but difficult to tell how many were in the set. Looking thru the listing of Coalports, there would have been many series, like the birds [6], butterflies [6], British castles [6], Dogs [6], Paddington Bear [6], British Prime Minsiters [6] and the signs of the zodiac [12], Chinese figures [8] but there are no other details on sets at this stage. As soon as the series become apparent, I will give this page a new look dividing by subject/series. There is a large series illustrating the flowers of the 50 American states - with a state flower affixed to each, with the state's name on the verso.

I have received a few Coalport emails recently. They relate to the placement of the decals - on the flower patterns in particular. Some of you have Coalport examples where the flowers are not in the same place or they are featured upside down. Thimble decals are small and they may have inadvertently been placed in the wrong position at the time of manufacture. I don't believe it lessens them in any way. Do you agree? Maybe the ones I have in my collection or in the photos may be on the wrong way - who is to know for sure? The patterns that have been questioned are :- Chintz Rose and Samarkand.

I understand there is a set of 7 for the Days of the Week - Monday's Child ... Do you know this set and have photos to share, please?


birds | butterflies | castles | chinese figures | christmas | commemorative | dogs | flowers | fruit
mother | paddington bear | prime ministers | scenes | USA flowers | willow pattern | zodiac | others


Birds
"Bluetit"
click to see the other side

Birds
"Chaffinch"

Birds
"Goldfinch"
click to see the other side

Birds
"Grey wagtail"
click to see the other side

Birds
"Robin"
click to see the other side

Birds
"Wren"

Butterflies
"Androcles/Plain Tiger"
click to see the other side

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Butterflies
"Cyrrnus/Aron Brown"
click to see the other side

Butterflies
"Painted Lady/White Admiral"
click to see the other side

Butterflies
"Peacock/Grayling"
click to see the other side

Butterflies
"Cyrrnus/Red Admiral"
click to see the other side

Butterflies
"Clover Yellow/Long Tailed Blue"
click to see the other side

Castles
"Alnwick"

Castles
"Caernarvon"

Castles
"Harlech"

Castles
"Herstmonceaux"

Castles
"Kidwelly"

Castles
"Pembroke"

Chinese figures
"Beggar"
click to see the other side
name on box

Chinese figures
"Flower seller"
click to see the other side
name on box

Chinese figures
"Housewife"
click to see the other side
name on box

Chinese figures
"Magician"
click to see the other side
name on box

Chinese figures
"Mandarin"
click to see the other side
name on box

Chinese figures
"Musician"
click to see the other side
name on box

Chinese figures
"Prince"
click to see the other side
name on box

Chinese figures
"Scholar"
click to see the other side
name on box

Christmas
"1979"

Christmas
"1980"

Commemorative
Charles and Diana
"July 1981"
BUY THESE THIMBLES

Commemorative
"William Wilberforce"
"Abolition of slavery 1833-1983"
click to see the other side

Commemorative
"Anne Princess Royal"
1987

Dogs
"Corgi"

Dogs
"King Charles Spaniel"

Dogs
"Scottish Collie"

Dogs
"Sealyham Terrier"

Dogs
"Weimaraner"
click to see the other side

Dogs
"Wire Fox Terrier"

Flowers
"Albany Flowers"
Thimble Collectors Club
click to see the other side

Flowers
"Allegro"
name on box
click to see the other side

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Flowers
"Bindweed"
name on box
click to see the other side

Flowers
"Burbeck"
on two sides

Flowers
"Caughley Sprays"
name on box
click to see the other side

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Flowers
"Chintz Rose"
Thimble Collectors Club

Flowers
"Common dog violet"

Flowers
"Cressage"

Flowers
"Earth Nut Pea"

Flowers
"Golden Allegro"
name on box

Flowers
"Harebells"

Flowers
"Jacobean"
name on box

Flowers
"June Time"
name on box
see also the non-traditional shape with the identical decal
click to see the other side

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Flowers
"Ludlow?"
name on box


Flowers
"Marsh Marigold"
name on box


Flowers
"Ming Rose"

Flowers
"Pageant"
Thimble Collectors Club

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Flowers
"Red Campion"
name on box

Flowers
Rose
on two sides


flowers
"Samarkand"

BUY THIS THIMBLE


Flowers
"Shrewsbury"
Thimble Collectors Club

Flowers
"Tulip Tree"
name on box

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers
Forget-me-nots

Flowers
Holly

Flowers
Roses-1

Flowers
Roses-2

Flowers
Roses 3

Flowers
Roses-4

Flowers
Roses-5

Flowers
Roses-6

Flowers
Snowdrop

Flowers
Thistle
Flora Britannae for Scotland

Flowers
Daffodil
Flora Britannae for Wales

Flowers
English rose
Flora Britannae for England

Flowers
Shamrock
Flora Britannae for Ireland

Fruit
Berries
"Wenlock Fruit"

mother
"1978"

Mother
"1979"

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Mother
"1980"

Mother
"1981"

Paddington Bear
"At the seaside"
© P&Co 83

Paddington Bear
"Bedtime"
© P&Co 83
click to see the other side

Paddington Bear
"Gardening"
© P&Co 83
click to see the other side

Paddington Bear
"Sweeps Up"
© P&Co 83

Paddington Bear
"Takes a Snack"
© P&Co 83
click to see the other side

Paddington Bear
"Takes a Trip"
© P&Co 83

Prime Ministers
"Churchill"
1951-1955

Prime Ministers
"Eden"
1955-1957

Prime Ministers
"Macmillan"
1957-1963

Prime Ministers
"Douglas-Home"
1963-1964

Prime Ministers
"Heath"
1970-1974

Prime Ministers
"M Thatcher"
1979-1982

Scenes
Ironbridge

USA Flowers
Rhode island
click to see the other side

Willow pattern
Thimble Collectors Club
click to see the other side

BUY THIS THIMBLE


Willow pattern
Blue
click to see the other side

Willow pattern
Pagoda
click to see the other side

Willow pattern
Pagoda different pattern
click to see the other side

Zodiac
Aquarius

Zodiac
Pisces

Zodiac
Aries

Zodiac
Taurus

Zodiac
Gemini

Zodiac
Cancer


Zodiac
Leo


Zodiac
Virgo

Zodiac
Libra

Zodiac
Scorpio

Zodiac
Sagittarius

Zodiac
Capricorn

Others
Balloons
Thimble Collectors Club

Others
Hallmarked Thimbles of the World Great Porcelain Houses
Thimble Collectors Club [set of 50]
click to see the other side

Others
Porcelain Houses of the World
Franklin Mint [set of 25]
1981

Others
one of non-traditional shape
click to see the other side

Others
2nd of non-traditional shape

Others
3rd of non-traditional shape

Others
4th of non-traditional shape
same decal as "June Time"

Others
5th of non-traditional shape

Others
2007 thinner bone china

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DO YOU KNOW ANY MORE DETAILS ABOUT
COALPORT THIMBLES? YOU MAY KNOW THE MISSING NAMES, ESPECIALLY OF THE FLOWERS, OR KNOW OF OTHER COALPORT THIMBLES NOT ON THIS LIST

EMAIL thimbleselect@bigpond.com TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE.


References

Thimble Society of London catalogues

Coalport figures website

Coalport Museum treasures website


Contributors

Linda Brown - Vilma Buck - Sue Burt - Sue Christensen - Sue Lewis - Pat Morris - Elaine Pollard - Kate Power
Karen Stoner - Jean Taylor - George Travers - Hans Vogel - Joanna Waciorski - Gemma Whelpton - Mave Wiskin - Jenny Yuhas


This listing of Coalport thimbles does not purport to be complete or accurate in all aspects. Rather it invites comment and contribution to add to our knowledge of these collectable thimbles and boxes. My thanks to the other contributors

Enjoy!

© Sue Gowan
November 2004


THERE ARE 32 "LEARN MORE ABOUT..." TOPICS
Brass Advertising | British Placenames | British Royalty on Thimbles | British Silversmiths | Charles May | Christmas | Coalport
Dorcas Thimble Boxes | Easter | Gadgets | Francesca | Hallmarked Thimbles set | 'Mother' | The World's Greatest Porcelain Houses
Royal Albert | Royal Crown Derby | Royal Doulton | Royal Worcester Handpainted Thimbles
Royal Worcester Decal Thimbles | S + H Foskett | Silver Advertising Thimbles | Spode | Stratnoid | SylvaC
Thimble Books | Thimble Collectors Club | Thimble Societies | Thimbles with Slogans
Thimblefuls | Victorian Silver Scenic Thimbles | Wedgwood Jasperware | Wedgwood Bone China

THERE ARE 22 PAGES OF THIMBLES & OTHER ITEMS TO BUY
aluminium 1 - books 1 - brass 1 - china 6 - display cases 1
gold 1 - needlework tools 2 - other collectables 1 - pewter 1 - plastic 1
silver 3 - steel & metal 1 - unusual materials 1 - wood 1

Any questions or comments?
thimbleselect@bigpond.com

  Last updated 21 November 2009  
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