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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 1d

I'm not sure about the dates, but that's a very good question - I've seen images of children with bubble pipes from the mid-1800s and I think it may have continued to the early 1900s, up to 1930s perhaps. But I don't know what they used to make the bubbles!

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks for the reminder - that's a great example. Just had a close look, and the pipe he's smoking looks like a typical clay pipe of the day, not necessarily a specially made bubble pipe.

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 1d

Well, how about this - a familiar shape, but an unfamiliar colour! It's a small fluted clay pipe bowl, but in a terracotta coloured clay - or dyed orange? My guess is that this was a child's bubble pipe, as I've seen similar examples of coloured pipes produced to be sold as bubble pipes.

A close-up of the Thames foreshore with some seashells and an orange pipe bowl lying among them.

The same pipe bowl being held in a gloved hand. The stem is broken/missing, so it's just the part of the pipe that held the tobacco.

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 3d

Well observed...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you!

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 4d

A near-complete clay pipe with a dotty-design bowl, found lying on the surface, as in the second photo. The shape/style of this pipe dates it to the 1850-1910 period.

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 4d

Indeed.... there's still many layers of mud to be eroded away where there's things hidden inside...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 5d

2/2: This is how I found it, buried in the mud with just the base emerging!
Because it was found directly in front of @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social, it almost certainly comes from the smallpox transfer station which was on the site from the 1880s - 1940. I've added it to the farm's collection...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 5d

1/2: This stoneware ink bottle is so glossy and perfect, it's like new! But follow the thread to see how I found it...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 12d

My eye was caught by this colourful fragment on the foreshore - even more pleasing when I saw it had part of a face! It's from an item of royal commemorative china; I haven't been able to find an exact match, but it looks most likely to be George V.

A broken fragment of colourful china lying on top of the gravel of the Thames foreshore.

A close-up of the same piece of china - with half of a king's face on the left, and part of the royal coat-of-arms on the right.

An image of King George V in his coronation robes, which resembles closely the face in the fragment of china.

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 15d

2/2: The free exhibition is at London Museum Docklands, all weekend, though I'll only be taking part on the Sunday. (And I'll also have some more rescued pipe bowls available for adoption to good homes!)
Full details of the event here: www.londonmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/mudlarking-showcase/

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 15d

1/2: I've just been putting together another display case for the mudlarking exhibition this weekend; this case shows some of the complete pipes I've found on the Thames foreshore - from the long pipes of the 1700s to the variety of short everyday pipes of the 1800s to early 1900s.

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 16d

Found on the foreshore a few nights ago, when I was looking for a sign after receiving some very sad news...
Not sure if she's a fairy or an angel, but she's appropriately otherworldly and was sitting at attention right in my path, as if waiting to greet me...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 22d

2/2: On the same day I found this second charming bird fragment, also lying face-up on the foreshore.

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 22d

1/2: Found lying face-up on the Thames foreshore... the bird in this nest looks rather like a young cuckoo to me, outgrowing its host's nursery. Or perhaps it's just a parent bird on its nest?

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 26d

Thanks Vicky!

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 27d

Oh fantastic, I'm so pleased! It'll be the first of several for you, I'm sure...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 27d

Thanks Liz for the mention. And pleased to see you got your clutches on another claw!

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 27d

4/4: So yes, this was too extraordinary and specific to be just a bit of random luck; I'm a keen follower of signs, and I can tell this washed up in my path for a reason!
He's a French-made pipe, by Dumeril of St Omer - the illustration is from their catalogue. He probably dates 1850s-1870s.

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 27d

3/4: But what really takes me aback is when I see that it depicts Garibaldi. The previous weekend I'd been speaking at a conference of the recent finds of Garibaldi-inspired pipes in London. And myself and the other person on the foreshore that day have a shared history related to Garibaldi pipes...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 27d

2/4: It's my fourth find of a figural pipe bowl depicting a bearded male character in the last nine months – that's the reason why I'm chuckling in the video, when I see that it's yet another bearded man in a fancy hat! Continued...

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 27d

1/4: I chanced on this exquisite figural clay pipe bowl in the most unlikely place – I was returning to the river stairs at the end of a search, when I spotted it right in my path, on the tideline, in a barren gravelly patch! Follow the thread for more reasons why this was an extraordinary find..

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 27d

I was quite struck by that as well - a very different approach!

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 28d

Thanks for the example/suggestion - that's very helpful!

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Germander Speedwell @germanderspeedwell.bsky.social · 29d

Thanks for the encouragement - I will try and get into the habit of doing this in the near future, at the moment I struggle with time so it takes adjustment to do new things routinely....

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