Madeleine Marsh

Madlark Crab and Jewellery
see below

Shuttle Fish
Edwardian Weaving Shuttle and Vintage Mending compact 45 x 4 cms
This fish is made from an Edwardian wooden weaving shuttle, complete with original spool, and a vintage stocking mending compact. The shuttle is by Crossley, est.1888 in Todmorden, who manufactured shuttles of all types and sizes for automatic and hand looms. With the decline of the textile industry in Britain, this beautifully made object lost its purpose. I wanted to give it a new lease of life.

Madlark Crab - Wall hanging sculpture
Mudlarked Pottery, Pipes and Other Finds 35x25 cm
This wall hanging sculpture is made from mudlarked pottery, dating from the 17th-20th C, beachcombed from the canals of London. The crab's flexible legs are made from from clay tobacco pipes, broken and discarded by smokers of the past. Other finds range from a fragment of Victorian toothbrush to a wartime farthing dating from 1942.

River Rings and Ringstand
Mudlarked Victorian pottery and glass bottle stoppers
These rings are made with pottery mudlarked from the canals of London. The ringstand is made from Edwardian glass bottle stoppers, used in the favourite sauces of the day: Lee and Perrins, HP, Daddies, etc. I love finding a new use for these lost and found objects. and the bottle stoppers thrown away over a century ago, make a perfect and practical ringstand. Ringstand: £25; Ring: £35

Madlark Fish (wall hanging)
Pottery mudlarked from the Canals of London 36x17cms
This wall hanging sculpture is made from mudlarked pottery, dating from the 17th-20th C. The fins and tail are formed from clay tobacco pipes, dropped by smoking Londoners across the centuries.The eye is a victorian marble. One of my favourite pieces of pottery here is a fragment of MacFisheries Potted Fish lid (c.1920s), with little fish set inside the roundel inspired by the Scottish Flag. One of the joys of mudlarking is spotting the occasional fish and this piece is a celebration of of the combination of nature and history that makes the waterways of London so special.

Madlark Brooches
Pottery mudlarked from the Thames and Canals of London various
These brooches are made from mudlarked 19thC and early 20th pottery set with freshwater pearls. The Lovebirds and tree are both Willow Pattern, the Egyptian Revival scene is Royal Doulton c.1890. ABC is a teapot fragment from the famous chain of self-service tea shops, which launched in 1864, provided one of the first public cafes where a respectable Victorian lady could eat alone or with a girlfriend without a male escort. Hurrah!

Marsh Wader
Pottery and finds mudlarked from London Canals 98cm h x 66cm w
Made from pottery and finds beachcombed from the canals of London, this bird wading among the copper bullrushes is a celebration of the wildlife that you can find even in the heart of London, thanks to the city's many waterways.

Madlark necklaces
Mudlarked pottery, silver chain and semi-precious stones
These necklaces are made from Victorian and Edwardian pottery mudlarked from the canals of London. Each one is differnt. The Willow necklace (top) is probably the most famous British ceramic design of all time. The Willow pattern tells a story of romance, elopement and death, culminating when the two young lovers are transformed into lovebirds, flying together for all eternity. This is the centrepiece of the necklace.

Madlark Earrings
Mudlarked pottery and Freshwater Pearls
These earrings are made from 17th-19th C pottery mudlarked from the canals of London. They are set with freshwater pearls, reflecting their watery origins. The sterling silver ear wires can be repalced with clips if required.

Madlark Mirror
Finds mudlarked from the Thames and Canals of London 60x63cms
This mirror is made from mudlarked finds ranging from a fossilized shark's tooth (c.55M years old), to a Sainsbury's meat paste pot c.1910. It provides a literal reflection of the remarkable diversity of London and the wealth of history that lies buried beneath our feet. These fragments illustrate every aspect of human life from adult vices (smoking and drinking) to childhood pleasures (lost toys and marbles). The mirror reflects times of war (see WWII Bullet) and peace. Top left is a shard of 18th C delft religious tile showing the doves of peace, and bottom right is the arm of a Ganesha, a modern day Hindu river offering. Each piece has a story, that tells the history of London across the centuries. This mirror comes with a written identification of every find.

Madlark Pendants
Mudlarked pottery and semi-precious stones
These pendants are made from Victorian and Edwardian pottery mudlarked from the canals of London. They are set on semi precious stones.

Madlark bracelets
Mudlarked pottery and semi-precious stones
These bracelets are made from Victorian and Edwardian pottery mudlarked from the canals of London. Each one is unique and the flexible frames can be adjusted to all wrist sizes. Each bracelet comes with a written history.

Madlark Necklace
Mudlarked pottery, silver gilt chain
The pottery dates from the Victorian and Edwardian periods and is mudlarked from the canals of London. This shade of leaf green is unusual and it has taken me years to assemble enough matching pieces to make a necklace.

Cats in Art: Andy Pawhol
Mixed media `18x18cms
Wall hanging sculpure - part of my Cats in Art series celebrating great artists, irresistible puns and of course cats!

Cats in Art tea towel
cotton
Tea towel of my Cats in Art series, a scuptural tribute to great Artists, Irresistible Puns and Cats!

Cats in Art: Mogdrian
Wood and Wire `18x18cms
Wall hanging sculpure - part of my Cats in Art series celebrating great artists, irresistible puns and of course cats!

Coco Chatnel
clay and mixed media c.26cms high
Part of a series of works dedicated to great artists, irresistible puns and cats. Here is Coco Chatnel - like Mademoiselle herself , a brilliant self publicist, dressed in her signature black and white suit , complete with monogramed handbags, miniature perfume bottle, and a pair of scissors in her tail for those last minute dress alterations. She also has a cigarette in her mouth. Chanel smoked constantly, and I love the fact that all her clothes must have smelt of French cigarettes as well as Chanel No.5.

Lyons Cakes
1930s advertising thimbles, aluminium
In the 1930s major companies distributed promotional thimbles to advertise their wares and to attract female purchasers. I love these Lyons Cakes thimbles. J.Lyons and Co, famous for their tea shops and restaurants (the glamorous Corner Houses); leading manufacturers of biscuits, cakes and icecream, was based in Hammersmith where I live. These earrings are light as a feather, a little bit of British social history, and there is something iresistible about hanging cake from your ears. It's a word you cant say without smiling!

Running Repairs
Vintage sewing materials 37cms h
I don't sew myself, a horrible teacher at school put me off for life, but the chance discovery of a box discarded of needlework materials in a skip initiated a journey of discovery, much vintage collecting and a host of new works, celebrating the history of sewing.

Gas for Economy
1930s advertisting thimbles, aluminium
n the 1930s major companies distributed promotional thimbles to advertise their wares and to attract female purchasers. These ones appealed to my sense of humour. they are inscribed Gas for Economy. Not a Phrase that comes to mind today when you look at your energy bills!

Madeleine's Sewing Box Thimble Necklace
Silver
This necklace is made from Victorian and Edwardian silver thimbles, each one different and shaped by the fingers of their original user. They represent women's everyday history. Rich or poor, all women had to learn to sew and a silver thimble was a cherished possession; given as a love token; passed down from mother to daughter; constantly in use. Designed to be shown off in public as a lady sewed in the drawing room, thimbles were often finely decorated. My personal favourite here is a tourist souvenir from Bournemouth, a favourite Victorian seaside resort. Dangling from the ends is an early 1900s French jet button and a single pearl. Pearls are symbolic of tears and I put this on as a symbol of of the immense amount of women's work that these little objects represent.

Endurance Mending
Vintage sewing materials 33 cms h
I don't sew myself, a horrible teacher at school put me off for life, but the chance discovery of a box discarded of needlework materials in a skip initiated a journey of discovery; much vintage collecting and a host of works exploring the history of sewing . "Endurance Mending" expresses the fact that sewing can be hard work and that I certainly find it a battle!

Madeleine's Sewing Box Thimble Earrings
Silver Child Thimbles and Adult Thimbles
These earrings are made from Victorian and Edwardian silver thimbles. From childhood every girl, whatever her class, had to learn to sew. To the left is a pair of children's thimbles, to the right adult thimbles.

Madeleine's Sewing Box: Thimble Earrings
Silver Child Thimbles
These earrings are made from Victorian and Edwardian silver thimbles; light to wear, each one different and shaped by the fingers of their original user. They represent women's everyday history. Rich or poor, all women had to learn to sew from childhood and these tiny thimbles (see 5p piece for size comparison) were used by little girls. If only objects could speak....

Madeleine's Button Box Necklace
Vintage Glass Buttons
This necklace is made from early 20th Century silvered glass buttons, each one different. They are beautiful things,lustrous and organic in design, conjuring up the glamour of the period. Throughout history buttons have been used both for fastening and decoration. By the 19th century, Birmingham was the centre of the British button industry. Metal was used for uniforms and servants’ liveries – hence the name of Cinderella’s page”Buttons”. Shells were imported from across the empire to make mother of pearl buttons, famously displayed by London's Pearly Kings and Queens. Elaborate Victorian and Edwardian fashions stimulated demand for tiny buttons for boots, gloves and underwear as well as large decorative buttons. Glass buttons were a speciality of Venice and Bohemia and were also produced in Britain and France.

Madeleine's Writing Box: Pen Nib Earrings
Vintage early 20th C Pen Nibs
The first British patent for a metal pen was taken out in 1808 and by the mid-19th C Birmingham had more pen factories than the rest of the world put together. One of the most famous firms was C.Brandauer and Co, who made these examples. Their nibs were beautifully decorated (note the embossed rose, shamrock and thistle) and given individual names: here the silver 'Mail' (after the newspaper) and the gold-plated "Clan Glengarry". They do make fantastic and surprisingly elegant earrings.

Madeleine's Stamp collection - Earrings
Vintage stamps and glass pearls
These earrings are double sided: vintage1950s stamps on one side, more recent stamps on the other. They can be worn in 3 ways: young ueen, older queen, or mix and match so that she ages on your ears, as shown here.

Madeleine's Stamp Collection - Bracelets
vintage stamps
The world’s first adhesive postage stamp was launched in Britain in 1840. Queen Victoria was the centrepiece 0f the famous Penny Black and royal portraits have featured on British stamps ever since. For anyone living during Elizabeth II’s reign, multicoloured miniatures of the Queen, popping through the letter box , were part of everyday life. Her death in 2022, made me see these familiar images differently. How long would Elizabeth II remain on British stamps? How many people send letters nowadays? When was this symbol of Britain going to disappear? Madeleine’s Stamp Collection is jewellery made from vintage postage stamps, celebrating a fragment of British history and revelling in an Andy Warhol style range of colourful portraits.

Vintage stamp Earrings
Vintage stamps and freshwater pearls
These earrings are made from Australian stamps dated 1955, showing a portrait of Queen Victoria and commemorating one hundred years since the issue of the first stamp of South Australia in 1855. The clips can be replaced by earring wires.

Flower Basket Earrings
Wicker baskets and flowers
These are some of my favourite earrings, light as a flower to wear and filled with summer whatever the season. They always attract comment and for a full on floral experience I sometimes dab my basket with essential oil.

Untitled

Sempervivum: Always Alive
Pastel on paper 40x50cm framed
I know nothing about plants, but I love sitting outside and drawing them. Drew these on the Scillies, and subsequently found out their fabulous name Sempervivum: Always Alive. More prosaically, it is also known as the house leek.

Bee happy: Echium, Pride of Madeira
soft pastel on paper 40x50cm framed
In April, the island of Tresco in the Scillies is covered with purple echium. Watching the enormous bumble bees mobbing flowers on a sunny day (we did have one) was an afternoon of pure joy.

Growing Wild
Pastel on paper 40x50cm framed

Sea Glass Pendant
Sea Glass with Freshwater Pearl, vintage foxtail chain
When I am on holiday, I spend hours beachcombing looking for sea glass. It is very hard to find pieces suitable for jewellery. but there is something strangely magical about sea glass; man-made but shaped by nature; hard yet soft to the touch and the frosted colours are beautiful.

Neolithic Arrowhead Necklace
Flint arrowhead c.5000 years old
A beautiful neolithic arrowhead set on vintage varnished wood and brass beads, with a polished carnelian stone at back.

Pearl Earrings
Freshwater pearls set on handmade gilt and silvertone findings.
These are my favourite pearl earrings and in my experience, they seem to suit everybody. As Jackie Kennedy famously said "Pearls are always appropriate."

Neolithic Arrowhead Earrings
Flint arrowheads c.5000 years old, gilt wire
Undoubtedly the oldest earrings I have ever made and the wire findings are inspired by ancient Celtic metalwork.

Madeleine's 1920s Makeup Tea towel
cotton
This tea towel shows some of my personal collection of vintage makeup. Some years ago I wrote a history of cosmetics. I needed to illustrate my book, so I began collecting - buying everywhere from smart antique dealers, to EBay; begging friends to ask their mothers and grandmothers to search handbags and bathroom cabinets for forgotten lipsticks and powders. Gradually my historical collection grew and a fascinating history of women’s beauty rituals emerged. This tea towel is devoted to the Art Deco period, when the Flappers of the roaring twenties created a makeup revolution. They cut their hair – see the Shingling Clippers and the Flapper Curler. They shortened their skirts - hence the need for tiny and ladylike leg-shaving razors. They painted their lips, rouged their cheeks, mascarad their eyes and flaunted beautifully enamelled powder compacts. These bright young things scandalised their elders, and pioneered the makeup and grooming practices we all take for granted today.

Transformation!
clay and mixed media 35cmh x 18cmw
Transformation is a celebration of diversity and dessing up. They is going to a party.

Madlark Necklace
Pottery mudlarked from the canals of London sterling silver chain
The pottery dates from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. A single amethyst hangs downthe back of the neck, complementing the purple flowers.

Neolithic Necklace and agate earings
Red jasper arrowhead c3000 BC, set on agate
This is the oldest object I have ever made into a piece of jewellery. Painstakingly knapped from almost translucent red jasper, this Neolithic arrowhead is particularly unusual for its delicacy and it’s near heart shape – an arrow straight to the heart. It is set on tree agate beads. The agate was a favourite stone in the ancient world used for signet rings and jewellery.. Powdered agates drunk in wine were believed to cure poison and wearing an agate was said to repel danger, to attract fortune and friendship. Pliny claimed that agates could avert storms whilst according to the legendary Greek poet Orpheus, "If thou wear a piece of Tree Agate … the Immortal Gods shall be well pleased with thee.”

Key Necklace and Earrings
Vintage keys (19th-20th C) and silvered wire
This necklacke and earrings set was inspired by the powerful symbolism of the key, the most commonplace yet significant object we keep in our pockets. Keys appear in most religions signifying the power of the gods to unlock wisdom and open the door to the afterlife. They also have a long tradition in jewellery signifying the "Key to my heart".

Compass ring
miniature vintage compass c.1.8cm diam
We've all lost our sense of direction at th moment. Where are we going? What is going to happen? So I made these rings from miniature vintage compasses to help us find our way.

Madeleine's Antiquities: Urbs Roma Necklace & Bracelet
Original Roman Coins, amethyst, white quartz,bronze findings
The Urbs roma (City of Rome) coin dates c. AD 330. It commemorated the founding of Rome and showed Romulus and Remus suckling the she-wolf Lupa. In the ancient world amethysts were considered a powerful amulet. They would prevent drunkeness and warn the wearer of pestilence and danger by losing their colour. Seems somehow sadly appropriate... Necklace £140, bracelet £70

Madeleine's Antiquities: Valentinian Necklace
Original Roman Coin , Red Agates, Carnelians, Bronze.
4th Century AD coin from the reign of Valentinian the Great (364-75) and his family. Emperor Valentinian was an able administrator who supported the poor. He was however renowned for his violent temper and travelled with two caged bears, used for quick executions.

Madlark Cormorant Eating an Eel
Pottery, clay pipes etc. mudlarked from the waterways of London h: c.120cms (including eel)
Made during lockdown from mudlarked material gathered over some 30 years from the waterways of London this is my thankyou to the Thames for providing Londoners with a place of refuge and nature. To see it better, checkout film on my Instagram page @marsh madeleine or my website www.madeleinemarsh.com

Naiad Necklace and Earrings
Freshwater pearls, opalites, sea shells, silver plated wire
In Greek mythology the Naiads were water nymphs who presided over lakes, fountains, streams and all bodies of fresh water. They were famous for their beauty and the waters they guarded were attributed with magical and medicinal powers.

Mermaid Necklace
Shells, grey pearls, silver-plated wire
Necklace £95 Earrings £25

Madeleine's Miniatures: Queens of Jazz
Part of a series of necklaces celebrating the acheivements of remarkable women against the odds. Each neklace comes with a history of the figures portrayed and symbols of their success hang down the back of the neck. Check my website for further details.

Madeleine's Miniatures: Suffragettes
Part of a series of necklaces celebrating the achievements of remarkable women against the odds. Each neklace comes with a history of the figures portrayed and symbols of their success hang down the back of the neck. Check my website for further details.

Madeleine's Miniatures: Flappers
Part of a series of necklaces celebrating the achievements of remarkable women against the odds. Each neklace comes with a history of the figures portrayed and symbols of their success hang down the back of the neck. Check my website for further details.

Madeleine's Miniatures: Stage Beauties
Part of a series of necklaces celebrating the achievements of remarkable women against the odds. Each neklace comes with a history of the figures portrayed and symbols of their success hang down the back of the neck. Check my website for further details.

Madeleine's Miniatures: Screen Sirens
Part of a series of necklaces celebrating the achievements of remarkable women against the odds. Each neklace comes with a history of the figures portrayed and symbols of their success hang down the back of the neck. Check my website for further details.

Madeleine's Miniatures: Ballet Dancers
Part of a series of necklaces celebrating the achievements of remarkable women (and a couple of men) against the odds. Each neklace comes with a history of the figures portrayed and symbols of their success hang down the back of the neck. Check my website for further details.

Madeleine's Miniatures: Fashion Greats
Part of a series of necklaces celebrating the achievements of remarkable women against the odds. Each neklace comes with a history of the figures portrayed and symbols of their success hang down the back of the neck. Check my website for further details.

Madeleine's Antiquities: Trajan Necklace
Original Roman Silver Denarius, lapis lazuli and sterling silver
Trajan was Roman emperor 98-117AD. He was a successful general and a comparatively benevolent ruler with an interest in public works and architecture. Lapis lazuli was a favourite gemstone in the ancient world and was believed to improve the eyesight and protect the heart from melancholy.

Madeleine's Antiquities: Constantine I Necklace
Original Roman coin, green agate, bronze findings
This coin dates from the reignof Constantine the Great AD 306-337. It is set on green agates. In Ancient Rome wearing an agate was believed to repel danger, to attract friendship and to create good fortune.