If I'm in England, then this must be French!

   I missed out on the tide the other day, but was down by the river anyway and there was a few minutes left to browse over the rocky section by the Millennium bridge to see what I might find.  Tedious work, and I'm not as patient as the veteran mudlarker is at starring at the ground for long periods of time.   Wandering down towards Blackfriars bridge I found a couple of interesting pieces of fine china, a piece of ornate tile, a fragment of something that was a metal mold,  and a lead seal.  Best of all, tucked between two rocks I found a French Franc from 1947.  Not really that old, but neat in itself.  Condition of the coin was good, as it was made of aluminum and therefor withstood the ravages of the river water and sediment.

                                         I wonder how much a 1 franc coin bought in 1947

                                                               coin is about the size of a 10P coin

                                   This little face called for her rescue from the muck!

                                                     
                                            Classic scene on Willow ware plate

                                            Delicate thin piece of brown transferware

        Ornate piece of decorative tile, maybe a wall piece or floor.  about 3 inches in lenghth

                                                   side view of tile piece

   Lastly, this piece of steel or pot metal is part of mold. Words are in reverse, when inverted they say
   "in arden"  ...I suppose it was garden, but broke off at the A in garden. No idea what it is.  just caught my eye.


 

More Birds than Finds.........

Another trip down to the foreshore without finding much to show.  I'm thinking of mudlarking a different spot next time.  This time the birds outnumbered the treasures.  The weather held off the rain, so all was not lost.  Below is a few pics of the few finds of note that I took home.  Some odd metal pieces, 3 pipes, still worthy of a smoke, a button, two cut glass gem stones I would guess, and the usual samples of different types of china.  And a nice tooth for the tooth fairy!!

                                           ENJOYING THE SUN AND LOW TIDE

                                                              SHOT GUN CASING..age unknown

                                                               strange metal spear like hook

                                                            Metal punch maybe?

                                          1 clear glass, 1 blue glass, 1 button

                                                        side angle of blue glass gem

                                                          Pipes, pipes and pipes

                                 don't recognize the maker, but hole in bottom, maybe tea strainer?

                                                      Pattern anybody? pretty whatever..

                                        Lastly, a variety of different china, good mosaic pieces

                       Keeping an eye on me after I picked up that shotgun shell casing....

THAT WAS THE SUM OF THE DAY.  ACTUALLY PICKED UP ABOUT 40 PIECES OF SLIPWARE FOR UPCOMING TABLE PROJECT.  HAVE ABOUT 450-500 PIECES OF IT NOW, ENOUGHT TO GIVE IT A GO, JUST LOOKING FOR RIGHT TABLE TOP.
 

Getting a Handle on this Hobby

Over the last months on the foreshore I've picked up the occasional handle I've come across.  They come from just about every type of china and pottery present on the foreshore.  Well, they seemed to grow in my garage, getting in the way, so I've put the best in a vase, making a nice bookend with some character. 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch out Martha Stewart!!

 

 

 

 

 

A Lousy Tide, But Still Some Finds

The tide on Sunday was not much to speak of.  I went to the river anyway, drawn by the feeling that maybe I would find at least one item I haven't found yet.  Probably the dream of all Mudlarkers!  Evening came early, and there was a dampness to the air.  The tide didn't want to give up any lost treasures openly, and I resorted to a closer inspection of the foreshore.  I didn't find much this time out, a scattering of china fragments, a couple of serviceable pipes, another marble, a couple of round objects, maybe cannon shot or musket balls, an old bone handle piece, part of a shoe?, and a few pieces of neat glass.   However, I did run into a person of interest, whom is quite famous I would say in the Mudlarking world of London.  You can see her blog at London Mudlark.  I have corresponded with her over the last few months a few times, asking her advice and using her vast photo collection of Thames finds as a reference to educate myself on what exactly I am collecting.  Below is the small, but sort of interesting finds of last weekend.




clay gaming ball or marble
 

two just right for colorado

early shoe insole...ideas?

odds n ends

should have been up top..maybe a knife handle

A New Year, the Searching Goes ON.......

Happy New Year to all my family and friends and fellow Mudlarkers.  The tide on Saturday was supposed to be one of the lowest of the 2014 year, and I was excited at the prospect of finding treasures that were normally covered with the Thames River.  The weather held up, cloudy, a few sprinkles, but the tide never retreated to the expected low.  Apparently, due to terrible weather conditions at the sea end of the river, the barrier was still up, keeping the water from surging up river on the high tide and safe guarding the low bank residents.   As a result, the pickings were thin.  Also, there were quite a few others scavenging the foreshore for the remains of the past.  I talked with most of them, and they too were having little success.  In the end I managed to find a few decent objects.  Nothing exciting enough to bother the Queen with, but neat enough to take home.

A nice hand made glass marble, swirled brown and white glass..

A metal button, I believe brass, with a leather backing....

A nice Asian scene of fishing, not sure if Willow design, but an older piece for sure

the whole lot, cleaned and sorted...

Peek a boo peasant..

various types of ware . the bottom left is piece of Canary Yellow Jug, about 1800.
others example of mocha ware and Imari Porcelain

Definitely Willow

interesting piece, Creamware, early 1800's

A nice C for a letting project maybe..

Big pieces of Slipware

And that kicked off the New Year.  Who knows what the year will bring my way.  What ever it is, I will continue to have fun picking up the past, imagining who might have used it last, and sharing it with those lucky enough to mudlark along with me and those who can only read along my blog.