Germander Speedwell

2/2: I've now got it back from the Museum of London, and sadly their conclusion is that it's later, i.e. post-mediaeval, probably from a storage jar. But it's still a few centuries old and a very unusual and distinctive piece of pottery!

1/2: This is a find from last year - the top of what I've been calling a 'frilly-rimmed flagon'. I'd never seen anything like it, and initially there was some hope that it might be Roman, as similarly-decorated rims can be found on Roman pottery...

2/2: And I'm delighted with the result: it's a rare heelmark because it was only in use for 12 years while CSP - or Cornelis Simonsz Plemper - was making pipes, from 1705-1717.
Isn't it amazing to be able to date a pipe so accurately! Thanks to the Dutch system of regulated and recorded heelmarks.

1/2: This clay pipe might not look like much - and I didn't even bother photographing it when I found it - but I did recognise its shape as Dutch. And that meant there should be a heelmark, which should identify it...

Sunday 15 Feb: This afternoon from 2-4pm, I'll be the mudlark-in-residence at the Secrets of the Thames exhibition at London Museum Docklands. You'll need a ticket to the exhibition, but if you've been meaning to come, it's a good day for it! Info: www.londonmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/secrets-thames/

Photo of the top of a clay pipe peeking through a pile of stones, leaves and twigs.

Photo of the same pipe bowl in my hand, showing clearly the buffalo horn and lettering RAOB.

Front view of the same pipe.

2/2: And here's another one, but a more typical find - just a bowl, a little worn, found nestled among rocks.

Photo of a patch of foreshore (mainly mud, a few stones etc) with a clay tobacco pipe lying on its side, in nice clean condition.

The same pipe later in my hand - on the bowl is the form of a buffalo horn with the letters RAOB and on the stem is the word WOOLWICH.

The same pipe in my hand, showing the other side, which has the wording W. COPE on the stem.

1/2: Here's two Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes clay pipes found recently. This one is special in that it has the maker's name - William Cope of Woolwich. It's in lovely condition despite being found lying on the surface - I assume it must have been washed out of its hiding place overnight!

Aha, great story - thanks!

Photo of the pipe bowl held in my hand, clearly showing the hand and heart, enclosed by decorative wreaths of vegetation

Photo of the other side of the pipe bowl, with the relief image of a large heart, also enclosed by a a partial wreath of vegetation.

4/4: Here it is after cleaning - isn't it gorgeous. This is my favourite pipe design; I love hands on pipes, but here it's particularly meaningful. Oddfellows pipes aren't that common - this is only the third I've come across in 12 years. This pipe is probably mid-1800s, +/- a couple of decades.

Photo of the pipe held in my gloved hand, still a bit muddy but you can clearly see the hand with the heart held in its palm.

3/4: I could see straightaway that this pipe was from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; one of their symbols is the heart in the hand, which symbolises charity - 'giving with the heart'. The Odd Fellows are a fraternal order founded in 1819 which is still running today...

2/4: Here's the moment I rescue it just as the tide is starting to cover it...

Photo of a Victorian decorated clay pipe in the mud, with one of its sides exposed, clearly showing the shape of a hand.

1/4: Such a perfect find, in many ways... It was the end of a morning's search; I was returning across the foreshore with the incoming tide, when I spotted this clay pipe, moments before it was about to be covered by the tide... Can you see the hand already?

Thanks Vicky!

3/3: I've just got it back from the Museum of London where it was being recorded for the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Unfortunately the name turned out to be indecipherable, but I'm very pleased with the very precise date - it was made between AD 140 - 180!

2/3: And it's got the maker's name on it! Well, half of it.... Individual potters stamped their wares with their name because they shared a kiln, so that after the firing they could identify which were theirs...

1/3: Just a piece of broken pottery? Well, it's actually a piece of Roman Samian ware - which was a surprise, as this area isn't known for Roman remains - and extra surprising to find it just lying on the surface...!

Thanks very much!

😁

Thank you! Yes, I suspect it was already broken/damaged when it was thrown into the river.

6/6: And if you don't know the background, all this chinaware is from the former smallpox transfer wharf that was on the farm's site from 1883-1940. You can read an outline of the story here: www.surreydocksfarm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/3.-The-River-Ambulance-Service.pdf

5/6: There are still a few fragments missing, as you can see, especially at the back, so I need to find at least two more of these pieces to help it stay together without extra support...

4/6: And here's what happened...

3/6: I already knew that that spout was part of another MAB jug, so I excavated it with excitement, and pulled out half an MAB jug! Then I remembered we had part of a similar jug in the cabinet, so I went to compare them....

2/6: In the following years I found several other pieces of it, including a large piece with half of the MAB (Metropolitan Asylums Board) roundel - the photo on the left shows them glued together. Then, a couple of months ago, I spotted this spout poking through the mud...

1/6: There's a significant new addition to the display cabinet at @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social. It's the large jug on the right that's 'new' - but this has in fact taken over 10 years to reconstruct! The first part - the bit with the handle - was found in June 2015....

Very sorry that you don't have pipes near you - though wherever there are old bottles, there might be the occasional pipe?

Good point - it is a bit acorn-like, though it's not like other acorn pipes (which have shorter acorn cups and rounded bowls) however, maybe this variation is inspired by acorn pipes?

I assume it's just design preferences - I think this variation would have looked quite smart when new. It also reminds me of horse hoof pipe bowls, so I wonder if the design was influenced by these (example in this photo):

Photo of the bowl of a Victorian clay pipe, held in my hand. The surface is in the pattern of tree bark, which continues three-quarters of the way up the pipe bowl, after which it's plain.

Photo of the same pipe as it was found - lying on the foreshore, in a gap inbetween large stones.

Photo of six different 'rustic' pipes, all a bit different, some with prominent tree branches, others with just a surface like rough tree bark.

A welcome new variation on the 'rustic' clay pipe design, found lying on the surface, a little river-worn. These pipes with a tree bark design were called rustics; I have numerous, a few of which you can see in the last photo, and they're all slightly different.

Close-up photo of the Thames foreshore, with a white stoneware inkwell lying on its side wedged inbetween stones.

Photo of the same inkwell, held in my gloved hand - showing that it's intact and perfect.

A white stoneware inkwell, found half-exposed on the Thames foreshore. These white inkwells were for red ink, and are much less common than the brown ones - but this is the third white one I've found in this area, two of those in the last few months!