Upon The Clouds Handmade in Leigh-on-Sea Buy a set

Hand-cast, hand-painted

Three flying ducks.Handmade in Essex.

Your nan had a set. So did half the country. These are made one at a time in a workshop in Leigh-on-Sea. Cast and painted by hand, so no two sets are quite alike.

£95a set of three· Free UK delivery·Ready to hang
Buy a set
Retha in her Leigh-on-Sea workshop, holding a freshly painted green and orange flying duck

Retha in the workshop, with one of the mallards.

Set of three handmade flying ducks in emerald green and orange, climbing a white wall

The classic mallard colouring: emerald head, chestnut breast.

The Mallard Set

Three ducks, large to small

£95

Each set is cast and hand-painted to order in Leigh-on-Sea. Because they're painted by hand, the greens and browns shift a little from set to set. That's the point of buying one made by a person.

  • Cast in resin, then hand-painted: base coats first, colours blended in after
  • Arrives ready to hang, hanger fitted to each duck
  • Free UK delivery
Choose a set

The shop

Every piece Retha has in stock

Pick a set and it goes in your basket here. Checkout is handled by Shopify, so your card details never touch this site.

Three pink and gold ducks mounted in a pink box frame against a painted lilac sky with small hot air balloons

Framed piece: ducks and balloons mounted over a painted sky.

Framed pieces

The ducks on the sky

Some of them don't go straight on the wall. Retha mounts the ducks in a box frame over a painted sky, with clouds or hot air balloons around them, and paints the birds to match the light in the picture.

Each framed piece is a one-off, from £125.

When one sells, that exact one is gone.

See the framed pieces

Hello, I'm Retha

Welcome to my workshop in Leigh-on-Sea, where every duck is made and painted by hand.

I make the moulds, cast every bird and paint each one here. No two sets leave the same, which is the part I like most.

Read my story
Retha, the maker behind Upon The Clouds, in Leigh-on-Sea

Why these ones

Made by one person, not a factory

Most of the flying ducks you can buy today are made overseas in batches of hundreds.

Retha creates these herself in Leigh-on-Sea.

She makes the moulds, pours them, trims and sands every edge by hand, then paints each bird, base coats first and the colours blended in after.

It means she can only make so many. It also means the set on your wall was handled from start to finish by Retha personally.

Three duck moulds on a workbench in the workshop

Her own moulds, on the bench in Leigh-on-Sea.

A short history

You already know these ducks

Three ducks climbing a chimney breast, smallest to biggest. They were in front rooms and up staircases all over Britain from the 1950s through the 1970s, and after Hilda Ogden hung a set in Coronation Street, they became shorthand for a whole way of decorating a house.

Then taste turned, and for about twenty years they were a punchline. Now they're back on walls in Leigh-on-Sea and Hackney and Glasgow, hung by people who think they're funny and lovely at the same time. Both things are true.

These are made in that tradition, in the same climbing formation and the same mallard colours, by someone making them by hand today.

Where they go

Up a staircase, along a hallway, above a fireplace, over a bed. The traditional hang is a rising diagonal, smallest bird first, though the spacing is really down to the wall you've got.

Hanging them

Every duck has a hanger fitted on the back, and the framed pieces come with a chain or hook already on, so there's nothing to fix to the piece itself.

Getting them to you

These travel better than the old ceramic sets ever did, but couriers are still couriers, so every set is packed by hand. If anything arrives broken, send a photo and a replacement goes out.

Questions

Before you buy

Are these vintage?

No. They're new, made by hand in Essex in the traditional style. Vintage sets turn up on eBay, usually chipped and often with a bird missing from the middle.

Is every set identical?

No. They're painted by hand, so the colours vary slightly between sets. Yours will be a little different from the photo.

What does delivery cost, and how soon will it come?

UK delivery is free, and orders are dispatched within 48 hours. There's an express option at checkout for £6.99 if you need it sooner. Full detail on the terms of sale page.

Where are they made?

In Leigh-on-Sea, on the Essex coast. Retha casts and paints every set herself.

How do I hang them?

Everything arrives ready to hang. The framed pieces have a chain or a hook fitted on the back, and each loose duck has a hanger on the back of it, so you just need something on the wall to hang them from.

How do I look after them?

Dust them with a dry, soft cloth. Avoid household cleaners and anything abrasive.

Will there be new ones?

Yes. Retha works in small batches, and new sets and one-off framed pieces appear as she makes them. Leave your email above and you'll see them first.

Do you sell to shops?

Yes. Wholesale enquiries to info@upontheclouds.co.uk.