Hohoho The Mudlark: A Broken China Mosaic Bowl

This sweetness piffling orphaned aeroplane was i time i of a span of modest common salt shakers. 

Now he’s got a construct novel domicile - with or hence shards of history...

Built upon a vintage wooden bowl, this mosaic nest of sorts tells a colorful even out of potteries long shut too abandoned. The bulk of the pottery used for this slice was collected past times my uncle, hand-picked at depression tide from the banks of the Thames River inward England betwixt the Globe too the National Theatres. Some of the shards inward this slice appointment every bit early on every bit the 1700’s.

Like collecting seashells along the shore of the ocean, the banks of the Thames offering colorful shards of broken china too pottery – reminders of the i time thriving potters that populated the area. Collecting these shards is known every bit mudlarking - every bit beachcombing refers to sea shores, mudlarking refers to river banks - too it’s history runs deep.

A century or 2 ago, the term Mudlarks referred the really pitiful of London who scavenged the riverbanks along the Themes collecting anything they could respect that mightiness accept or hence value. Mudlarks were virtually oft children or elderly folk -those without income who needed to scavenge to survive.

They looked for coins, bottles, pieces of pottery or coal – the sorts of things that mightiness accept been discarded or fallen off of a ship. They would collect these constitute objects too and hence sell or merchandise them for food.

Nowadays you lot tin nonetheless comb the shores for pottery shards, simply beware...it is said that all that is constitute on world the world is belongings of the Queen!

Happy Hunting!

Laura