iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 3h

Yes, they all look like ink receptacles, and the smaller one in front looks like an inkwell, though possibly taller than the usual penny ink?

120

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 9h

What striking proof of its indestructibility!

010

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 9h

Thanks - indeed, there's a lot that an inkwell leads to!

000

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 10h

Isn't she lovely... this German 1800s doll's head is particularly winsome. The second photo shows how I found her, on one of the recent low evening tides, in an area which isn't often exposed.

Photo of a china doll's head held in my hand. She has short black painted hair, and delicately handpainted facial features. The head is intact, and she has half her shoulders (the other half is broken).

Photo of how she was when I found her. It's dark, but the doll's head is illuminated in my headlamp. She's lying on her side in the mud.

Another photo of the doll's head, dramatic against a black background.

0413

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

2/2: Here we go! Yes, there's a reason why they called it stoneware.

Photo of the inkwell excavated, revealing that it is indeed complete.

Photo of the perfect intact inkwell held in my gloved hand.

3472

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

1/2: When you spot a stoneware inkwell in the mud and the lip is intact, you KNOW that it's going to be complete. These penny inkwells are so compact and strong that usually the only bit that ever gets broken is that exposed lip. Follow the thread to see that it's true...

Photo of a patch of foreshore with the top of a stoneware inkwell poking through the mud - you can see entire lip and half of the top surface of the inkwell.

26510

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

2/2: In the first photo you can see how large it is compared to a regular marble! It's a German handmade marble; the style is called a Solid Core Swirl, probably from the later 1800s. It's badly bashed and broken by the river, but if in good condition it would have been quite rare and valuable!

1213

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

1/2: Mammoth marble! I'd never seen such a large marble before... This photo shows how I found it, among the stones at the tideline of the Thames. Follow the thread for a closer look.

3252

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Thanks; I have heard that theory about the thorns - it sounds plausible. As for the spur on the bottom, it's not flat enough to rest the pipe on, so I think at this stage of pipe development it was simply a style thing....

010

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

3/3: And here it is after a clean.... hooray, that mouthpiece is indeed intact, which means that it's a complete pipe! It's a 'thorn pipe', as they were called, with spiky projections from the bowl like thorns. It probably dates from the later 1800s.

2343

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

1/3: When I spotted this on the Thames foreshore, I could see that it was part of a clay pipe; looking closer, I saw there was an interesting spur at the base, and some 'thorns' on the bowl - but how complete would it be?

1344

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

3/3: ... and found a match - it's a scene of two country lads raising a toast: 'THE QUEEN! GOD BLESS HER!'

0273

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

2/3: ... so I homed in on that wooden butter churn and on the fellow's blue hat, and searched through the Pratt Ware pot lid images on the internet...

1132

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

1/3: I was delighted when I excavated a china fragment and saw it was part of a Pratt Ware pot lid! Not only because these have exquisitely detailed and coloured transferware scenes, but because they're identifiable...

1303

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

That would really confuse the person who finds it!

010

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

3/3: Here's some other highlights of Hull: a very witty blue plaque for John Venn, the inventor of the Venn diagram; England's smallest window (it's that narrow slit next to the plaque) and Wilberforce House, now a museum about the history of slavery - and some of the pipe bowls displayed therein!

0122

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

2/3: The first photo shows the back of my pipe, which is rather more messy - you have to be good at handling clay to make a tidy pipe! The last photo shows the pipes when fresh from the mould. Special air-drying clay was used, which dries by itself! (But not as hard as kiln-baked clay, obviously.)

1142

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

1/3: A complete pipe! And I made it myself... This was at the Society for Clay Pipe Research conference in August in Hull. One member brought his pipe-making equipment - and even made a special commemorative stamp for our pipes! KuH26 means Kingston upon Hull 2026, and below that is the SCPR logo.

2223

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This Saturday, Sept 26, I'll be exhibiting at the mudlarking weekend at London Museum Docklands. Dozens of mudlarks will be there showing their finds. It's all free! I'll also bring a few of my latest finds that I haven't shown here yet. It's on all weekend, but I'll be there Saturday only.

0178

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Thanks so much - very pleased to hear it!

010

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

3/3: Here he is out of the ground, and later, clean and dry. In the video I said I thought it was a Turk's head pipe bowl, but I think it may be one of those that depict Omar Pasha, famous Ottoman commander in the Crimean War. If so, it probably dates from the 1850s.

1345

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

2/3: Here's the surprise revelation - but follow the thread for the conclusion...

1193

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

1/3: A decorated clay pipe bowl poking through the Thames foreshore - have a closer look; what do you think it's going to be? It certainly wasn't what I was expecting!

1245

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This little white cat was waiting for me up by the riverwall on the Thames foreshore. I don't keep many plastic toys, but this one is so full of character, I'll find a place for it!

A small plastic figure of a sitting cat, lying face-up among stones and fallen leaves. It's modern but very characterful and detailed, and the cat has a very relaxed and pleased expression.

The same cat held in my hand, where you can see its relaxed half-smile more clearly.

2241

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

2/2: After a rinse, it was clear that it was a fish-scale pattern clay pipe! (And yes, I did check, but there was nothing else of interest in the pot. The pipe must have washed in long ago when the pot was filling with mud...)

A plain vintage white pot, held in my gloved hand.

Photo looking down into the pot, which is full of mud, except there's something with a scaly pattern emerging.

Photo looking down into the pot, with more of the mud removed so that you can clearly see a clay pipe bowl with a fish-scale pattern lying inside.

Photo of the pipe removed and held in my gloved hand.

0211

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

1/2: You won't believe what was inside this plain pot! As explained in my commentary, I only dug out the pot for the pleasure of excavation, and I thought another mudlark nearby might want it. But when I started to empty out the mud inside, something with a scaly pattern started to emerge...

1192

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Isn't this vintage marble just exquisite - the shades of a Cornish sea, perhaps, with white swirls the shape of waves. Found on the Thames foreshore; it's quite battered by the river, but that doesn't seem to matter when the colour goes right to its core!

An old glass marble lying among the stones of the foreshore; it's a beautiful light sea blue colour, with white swirls running through it.

The same marble held between my fingers for a closer look.

2596

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

3/3: And then this nice half-fluted pipe also from the 1850-1910 period, spotted just underwater.

0242

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

2/3: Next, this (sadly broken) crown and rose pipe, from the 1850-1910 period...

1253

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

1/3: Here's some recent clay pipe finds from the Thames foreshore: firstly, this very nice 'bulldog' pipe. In tidy condition and with the bowl still full of mud, this looked like it was freshly eroded out of the mud. This design dates c. 1880-1920.

1335

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Indeed - you'll see it in the last post of the thread!

020

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

3/3: That china was used in their tea rooms; they had a large chain of them in the first half of the 20th century. One of them was by London Bridge station, under the bridge at Findlaters Corner, recently rediscovered and its mosaic restored - but now occupied by a modern chain - Starbucks!

Photo of the former Express Dairy Co tea rooms by London Bridge station, showing its newly restored beautiful mosaic signage surrounding the large arched entrance. The lettering also reads 'Afternoon Teas, Luncheons, Ladies Room, Smoking Room'

1152

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

2/3: Their china is always decorated with their bold blue flower motif, though few are as highly decorated as the examples in the photo on the right...

Photo of the half saucer after cleaning.

Photo of a display of Express Dairies china - obviously the top of their range, as these ones are very heavily decorated.

180

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

1/3: China from the Express Dairy Co is a common find on the Thames foreshore - but this is an unusually large fragment - half a plate, with the full logo intact!

Part of a small plate poking through the foreshore, with a fine blue band around the rim; you can see part of the blue roundel with the lettering ....SS DAIRY CO....

2201

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Actually, I hadn't seen that one before - many thanks, it's a good little film and nice to see that particular design being made!

010

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

3/3: Spaull is of special interest in that it was a clay pipe makers headed by a woman, and a ghost sign is still visible on the corner of their former offices in Grange Walk.

An E. Spaull & Co advertisement, and a view of the name painted down the side of an elegant brick building.

The elegant Georgian-style building which housed the company's office etc.

0201

Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

2/3: Here's a closer look at that lettering, and the address on the other side - I'm particularly struck by the elegant lettering of the number '67'...

Photo of the other side of both pipe stems, showing the lettering of the address.

Close-up of one of the stems, which has the lettering '67 Grange Wa...'.

A close-up of the numbers 67 in the address.

1140