You don't just find this stuff for yourself, you find it so everyone can learn from it, says Mr Russell.Malcolm Russell
Posted on 02/21/2023 5:37:33 PM PST by SunkenCiv
A mudlarker says he has been told ... Museum of London archaeologists believed the object might date back to the 2nd Century AD...
Popularised by the Victorians, mudlarking involves going down to the banks of the Thames at low tide and searching for interesting historical objects.
Mr Russell, who is from Walthamstow in east London and has been mudlarking for seven years, says he "was excited about what might turn up" because "when the tide is super low obviously more of the riverbed gets exposed and you stand a greater chance of finding things".
Despite this, he said after a few hours he still had not found anything - until he saw "a dark patch under about half a metre of water"...
He continued: "I was so astounded and excited at the time that I nearly dumped all of the mud and sand out of it that was inside, but I was reminded of a friend who said you shouldn't do that because the Museum of London like to X-ray complete pots to see whether they've got any original content in." ...
"When you think that over time it's broken or it gets rolled around in the river and smashed up, it's miraculous that something that complete could survive," he said...
He said: "They have discovered it is most likely a contemporaneous copy inspired by a much more expensive type of vessel made along the River Rhine in the 2nd Century AD. So it's kind of like a super bargain basement version of a vessel that was made then...
The Port of London Authority says a valid permit is required for anyone wishing to search the Thames' muds.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
You don't just find this stuff for yourself, you find it so everyone can learn from it, says Mr Russell.Malcolm Russell
That is beautiful, it looks like it was made yesterday!
That is beautiful, it looks like it was made yesterday!
‘ave a cup of tea, mate. It would be nice if he could keep it. It is beautiful and a good convo starter.
🙂
“That is beautiful, it looks like it was made yesterday!”
Well-preserved by the mud and sediment.
I want to be a mudlarker.
It’s interesting. There are tons and tons of Roman and other objects from antiquity that should be cheap and easy to replicate and mass produce today, that are vastly superior, aesthetically, to what one will find in a modern housewares store.
Heck, the LA County museum has piles of pre-Columbian things that would, in a modern form, sell out in minutes.
Rather difficult to set down on a flat surface...
Valid permit my ass. You open the unlocked gate and you walk down the stairs.
Maybe at one time you needed a “valid permit”, but no cop said anything to anybody when we were there a few months ago. There was even a guy hand feeding swans and nope.
Picking through nastiness is not my idea of a good time so I did not partake, but the scum they were picking through was better than 90% of the “art” in the Tate modern.
I believe that shape was useful for parties or drinking contests or such events. You can’t put your cup down. You have to drink the contents to get if off your hands, so to speak.
A rounded bottom container like that is set into a nest shaped basket.
Wow. Amazing condition.
"A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries."
Yeah, the cheaper local knockoff made it through, bravo! :^)
Wow! Amazing!
It looks as if on the very bottom it is cut off flat. Am I wrong??
I cannot tell from the pic.
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