Ceramic tableware 1870s

Ceramic tableware 1870s

Left: fragments of blue and white willow-pattern plates. One piece is fused within a piece of clinker, showing that a layer of rubbish had been burned at a very high temperature (possibly as fuel to fire a furnace used for some industrial process during the...
Stoneware Bottles

Stoneware Bottles

Tapering stonware bottles for drugs, condiments or polish. The one on the left, from Great Wakering, has been in a destructor, which has caused the glaze to melt. Iron oxide stains and other accretions are visible on the surface. The other, from Hadleigh, came from a...
Tiny Jar

Tiny Jar

A tiny clear glass jar with a burst-off lip. It has been partly melted in a destructor.
Doll’s Cup

Doll’s Cup

A cup from a dolls’ tea set. It has been in a destructor. Discarded in London; dumped in Essex.
Baby Dolls

Baby Dolls

The baby doll on the right has survived a destructor, although it has become encrusted with iron oxide and other residue of burning.
Burnt Clay Pipes

Burnt Clay Pipes

Clay pipes that have been through a London Destructor, dumped in Essex. In the intense heat they have fused with cinders and molten glass. Top left, bowl of grapes design. Centre and top right, a thorn design. Bottom centre, a coat of arms. Bottom left, a football...
Bottles from a Destructor

Bottles from a Destructor

Left: two stoneware bottles from the Battersea Aerated Water Company. They have been in a destructor. The glaze has run and accretions of burned cinders etc have attached to the bottles. Right: a green mineral water bottle from Chalk Farm, partly melted in a...
Doll’s Cup

Doll’s Cup

Found in the same deposit as the doll ‘Floradora’. Part of this cup (left) has been burned, and the glaze has partly melted. The other part shows no sign of burning. It is likely that the broken cup was swept up with other rubbish and flung in the fire,...