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THERE ARE 30 "LEARN MORE ABOUT..." TOPICS
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 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 Thimbles

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

The first time I saw SylvaC thimbles advertised, they were in Ruth Baum's Shopping Service in May 1981 and then in the spring 1982 issue. Ruth's mail order thimble company was based in London. Most of the following thimbles were offered for sale at the princely sum of £2.90. The nine animals' and buildings' names I have used are from Ruth's catalogue. There are no further details in the catalogue about SylvaC thimbles. I traced the three other designs thru the listing of products in Ashbrook and Verbeek's books. In 2000, Ashbrook valued SylvaC thimbles at £20-30 [US$30-50].

In another catalogue description, the makers are listed as Shaw and Copestake, Ltd in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. I had always wondered about the way SylvaC was written and once I knew the name of the company, it became clear: using the initial of each name at the start and end of the name!

The Sylvan Works factory was founded in 1894 by William Shaw and William Copestake and given the name of Shaw & Copestake. Copestake left that same year and Richard Hull joined in his place, but the Copestake name remained throughout. As the name Sylvan Works (the factory name) was already in use, Hull changed the trade name to SylvaC in 1935. The factory continued until voluntary liquidation in May 1982. Their main production line was ceramic novelty animals, with a large cross-section of designs; decorative and table ware was also produced. As thimble collecting gained popularity towards the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s, SylvaC introduced thimbles from October 1979, toward the end of their production life. They are no longer being produced as SylvaC ceased to trade in 1982.

I have added the dates as given by Susan Verbeek and the height of the thimbles. I have included the company identifying model numbers for each thimble, but these numbers are not on the thimbles.

The thimbles are shaped, chunky and made of a sturdy earthernware pottery. As shaped thimbles, they complement the Francesca range of shaped head thimbles. SylvaC thimbles are handpainted. The buildings thimbles [my terms] seem to have been made in greater numbers than the animals ones; the others are even rarer. The buildings thimbles all have a 'brick' or stone pattern. The thimble backstamp is 'SylvaC Handcrafted in England'. Being handpainted, there is the facility to change the colours of some of the designs and a rare colour change is for the pig thimble - a black pig instead of the pink-white one is one variety! Have you seen the very rare blue Leaning Tower? It does exist!

Thimble mark

SylvaC thimbles are presented in oversize sturdy painted cardboard thimble boxes. The thimble boxes match the theme of the thimble and today these are as collectable as the thimbles themselves. Tho the thimbles do not have Shaw and Copestake as part of the maker's mark, it is included on the inside of the boxes. There is a verse and all the identifying marks are present in the inside of the boxes. Further confusion could arise with the name of Schmid inside these boxes!

I have not heard of any other SylvaC thimble designs than these eleven listed here. I have never seen a picture of the SylvaC rose, daffodil and heart thimbles - have you?

Click on a photo to see a bigger picture

ANIMALS

Clown and Circus 'Big Top' thimble box original Baum advertisement	Clown thimble 1982 318mm SylvaC # 5059	Circus Tent thimble box size 90x100mm	Circus Tent thimble box marking
Lion thimble and Lion Cage thimble box original Baum advertisement	Lion thimble 1979 SylvaC # 5062	Lion Cage thimble box	Lion Cage thimble box marking
Pig thimble and Barn Sty thimble box original Baum advertisement	Pig's head thimble 1980 SylvaC # 5052	Barn thimble box	Barn thimble box marking
Lucky White thimble and Paddock thimble box original Baum advertisement	Unicorn thimble 1979 SylvaC # 5061	Paddock thimble box	Paddock thimble box marking

BUILDINGS

Dutch windmill and windmill thimble box original Baum advertisement	Dutch windmill thimble 1982 318mm SylvaC # 5058	Windmill thimble box	Windmill thimble box marking
Leaning Tower of Pisa thimble and thimble box original Baum advertisement	Leaning Tower of Pisa thimble 1982 445mm SylvaC # 5057	Leaning Tower of Pisa thimble box	Leaning Tower of Pisa thimble box marking
Norman Castle thimble and thimble box original Baum advertisement	Castle thimble 1982 318mm SylvaC # 5053	Castle thimble box	Blarney Castle, Co. Cork thimble box marking
Old World Cottage and thimble box original Baum advertisement	Thatched Cottage thimble 1979 318mm SylvaC # 4831	Cottage thimble box	Anne Hathaway Cottage thimble box marking
Wishing Well and thimble box original Baum advertisement	Wishing Well thimble 1982 SylvaC # 5060	Well thimble box	Wishing Well thimble box marking

OTHERS

Heart thimble SylvaC # 5056

Rose thimble SylvaC # 5054

Daffodil thimble SylvaC # 5055

DO YOU KNOW ANY MORE DETAILS ABOUT ANY OF THE THIMBLES LISTED ABOVE? DO YOU HAVE ANY ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS POSED? DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THE THIMBLES OR BOXES NOT PHOTOGRAPHED? DO YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER SYLVAC THIMBLES? EMAIL thimbleselect@bigpond.com TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE.

References

Stella Ashbrook. Collecting SylvaC Pottery. 2000

Susan Jean Verbeek. The SylvaC Companion. 1991

Susan Jean Verbeek. The SylvaC Story. 2nd rev ed, 1995

Contributors

Sue Christensen - Pat Morris - Cath Spongberg - Mave Wiskin

This listing of SylvaC 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
October 2004

THERE ARE 30 "LEARN MORE ABOUT..." TOPICS
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 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 Thimbles

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 23 April 2008

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