Casgliadau Arlein

An incomplete decorative silver thimble of seventeenth-century date.

The thimble is formed of a thin, rectangular sheet of silver, shaped into a tubular form-the crown is missing. The body has split along the vertical solder line and the ends now overlap, obscuring part of the engraved design.
The outer surface is decorated with a regular square grid patterned background; each small square stamped with a pit or circle mostly off-centre. A wide plain band around the bottom circumference is inscribed with the motto ‘Harber the harmless [heart]' in sentence italics followed by the initials ‘EI’ in Roman serriffed capitals. A thin plain band at the top separates the patterned background from the now missing crown. There are two opposing plain raised oval cartouches on the body of the thimble. One is engraved with a bust portrait of a man, looking to his right. The figure has flowing wavy hair reaching beyond his shoulders, a moustache and beard, formed by faint engraved strokes. His clothing bears an oversized collar and a chain with medallion. Beneath this are a series of regular short vertical incised lines. The opposing panel is an engraved motif of a skull surmounted by an hourglass.