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Francesca ... introduction

Francesca

Francesca thimble characters are the most prolific. According to the Thimble Collector's Guild in December 1986, Francesca were a small family firm in the heart of the Staffordshire potteries.

The company is no longer in existence. I believe that Francesca were taken over by Sutherland China, who used some of the Francesca moulds and destroyed the rest. Compare the Francesca with the Sutherland China heads and you will notice the similarity in the shapes!

I understand from new information coming to light with the surge in interest in Francesca thimbles on eBay, that Francesca was started by a group of breakaway painters from Royal Doulton in 1980.

The thimbles all have the Francesca backstamp [an italic F], plus 'Staffordshire England' and usually the painter's initials, with a two-digit date on the inside. The dates on their thimbles range from 1982 to 1990. From observation there seem to be some Francesca thimbles that are unsigned, or have the Francesca backstamp missing, or have no markings at all. They are obviously Francesca thimbles: could these be from the later end of the production as some have an 89 date but no "F"? Or they could be early "experiments"? You will also notice that there is an increasing appearance of unpainted, tho glazed, character heads - are these seconds or just unpainted stock - surely defeating the purpose of collecting these delightful painted range of thimbles?

All thimbles are hand-painted and the finish is glossy, not matt. Being handpainted by a range of artists has led to colour variations and even variety in expressions. If you are a collector of Royal Doulton figurines you will know the effect of a fine handpainter, against an average!

The following 24 painters' initials have been found in thimbles. It would be wonderful to find out all the full names. Can you help?

AD = Anthea Derry
AE
AG
BB = B Bream
DB = D Broom
GC = G Czapski
IS = I Sutton
JK = J Kelsall
JL
JP = John Price
JS
KS = K Sylvester
KT = K Taylor
MB = M Banks
MM = Michael Middling
MW
MY = M Young
NE = N Evans
PA = Peter Ansell
RB = Robert Band
RH = Ron Hearson
RS = Ray Shuff
SJ = Stan Jones
TK = T Kelshaw

Under the Francesca backstamp, figurines, mini jugs and candle snuffers were also produced.

I have divided the Francesca thimbles by the various character groups and then alphabetised them. The Francesca pairs are listed with the male character first. Where possible I have included the Dickensian story those ones relate to.

Recently I was so fortunate and happy to be sent copies of the original pamphlets advertising Francesca thimbles. I can't see if they are dated, but it interesting to note the "subject" groupings used by Francesca.

Whether this is even close to the output of the Francesca thimbles I hope to find out.

American Collection

Abraham Lincoln unpainted version	American Bald Eagle	George Washington unhatted unpainted version	George Washington hatted
Huckleberry Finn	Lady Liberty	Mark Twain	Martha Washington

Theodore Roosevelt unpainted version

Thomas Jefferson unpainted version

Tom Sawyer unpainted-without hat version

Clowns

Bojangles [#720]

Coco [#715]

Cuddles [#716]

Sparkles [#719]

Whoopie [#717]

Winkie [#718]

The clowns are only named on the boxes and not in the thimbles
the numbering refers to the Francesca catalogue numbers

An identical example of the clown "Cuddles" has been found - painted in 1986 - that is named "Beppo" within the thimble

A very observant Francesca collector has noticed that the clown shapes correspond to the Dickensian character shapes. What do you think? I think it shows how artistic and brilliant the Francesca painters were!!
Look at "Cuddles" and "Artful Dodger" - "Whoopie" and "Mr Dick" - "Winkie" and "Tommy Traddles" - "Coco" and "Bill Sykes" - "Bojangles" and "Uriah Heep" - "Sparkles" and "Mr Micawber"

Composers

Bach

Beethoven

Mozart

Schubert

Dickens Collection

Artful Dodger [--Oliver Twist--]	Bill Sykes [--Oliver Twist--]	Bullseye [--Oliver Twist--]	David Copperfield [--David Copperfield--]
Estella [--Great Expectations--]	Fagin [--Oliver Twist--]	Little Dorritt [--Little Dorritt--]	Little Emily [--David Copperfield--]
Little Nell [--The Old Curiosity Shop--]	Magwitch [--Great Expectations--]	Miss Haversham unpainted version [--Great Expectations--]	Mr Bumble [--Oliver Twist--]
Mr Dick [--David Copperfield--]	Mr Micawber [--David Copperfield--]	Mr Pickwick [--The Pickwick Papers--]	Mrs Squeers [--Nicholas Nickleby--]
Nancy [--Oliver Twist--]	Nicolas Nickleby [--Nicolas Nickleby--]	Oliver Twist [--Oliver Twist--]	Pecksniff [--Martin Chuzzlewit--]
Pip [--Great Expectations--]	Sairey Gamp [--Martin Chuzzlewit--]	Scrooge [--A Christmas Carol--]	Sergeant Bux Fux unpainted version [--The Pickwick Papers--]

Smike [--Nicolas Nickleby--]

Tiny Tim [--A Christmas Carol--]

Tommy Traddles [--David Copperfield--]

Uriah Heap [--David Copperfield--]

Wackford Squeers [--Nicholas Nickleby--]

Dogs

Border collie	Labrador - black	Labrador - gold	Old English sheepdog
Springer spaniel - black	Springer spaniel - liver	West Highland Terrier	Yorkshire Terrier

Famous Collection
Many of these are famous pairs

Duke of Wellington

Josephine

Lady Hamilton

Lord Nelson [with or without a hat]

Napolean [with or without a hat]

Sir Walter Raleigh [unpainted version]

Winston Churchill [with or without a hat]

Floral Bonnets
This is a set of 12 thimbles with four differently shaped hats- two types of bonnets brimmed hats and cloches. Each has a flower attached
There are identical thimbles that are also are named for the months of the year. The month is lettered inside the thimble

Primrose aka July	Forget-me-nots aka August	Wild Rose aka September
Dogwood October	Christmas Rose November	Holly
Narcissus aka January	Anemone aka February	Violet aka March
Pink Rose aka April	Pansy	Cornflower

Literary Collection
Many of these thimbles are pairs

Anne Hathaway	Anthony	Charles Dickens	Cleopatra
Desdemona	Dr Watson	Juliet	Lady MacBeth
MacBeth	Othello	Robbie Burns	Romeo

Sherlock Holmes

Tam O'Shanter

William Shakespeare

Royalty Collection
These are famous Royal couples

Albert	Charles II [with or without a hat]	Duke of Cambridge	Earl of Essex
Elizabeth I	Mary Queen of Scots unpainted version	Nell Gwynn	Victoria

Snowmen

Bowler

Cap

Top hat unpainted version

Trilby unpainted version

Tudor Collection
This set of seven thimbles, featuring Henry and his wives, is boxed.
They are often displayed on a sloping vertical wooden rack, which was a free item on purchase of the set.

Henry VIII

Anne Boleyn

Anne of Cleves

Catherine Howard

Catherine of Aragon

Jane Seymour

Katherine Parr

Others

Baby Bunting - blue [with crib]

Baby Bunting - pink [with crib] the crib forms a pintray

Good King Wenceslas

John Paul II

Any questions or comments?
thimbleselect@bigpond.com

Last updated 7 November 2008

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