A Robert “Mouseman” Thompson Oak Cheeseboard. (c. 1950 England)
Artists/Makers/Factories
ROBERT THOMPSON Also known as MOUSEMAN (1876-1955)
Medium
Oak
Signed/Inscribed/Dated
carved mouse
Dimensions
40.00cm wide
21.00cm deep
(15.75 inches wide 8.27 inches deep)
Condition
Very good condition
Description / Expertise
A Robert “Mouseman” Thompson Oak Cheeseboard.
Adzed plate . Mouse carved to handle.
Robert Thompson was born in Kilburn in north Yorkshire on 7th may 1876, the son of John Thompson the village joiner,carpenter and wheelwright.
After a period of engineering apprentaships, which he felt was penal servitude, he returned to work along side his father. Robert was influenced by the work of William Bromflet, a medieval woodcarver whose original plans and drawings of bench ends were later acquired and used by Robert himself.
In November 1895 John Thompson died at the age of 62, leaving Robert responsible for the business of a job carpenter. In 1905 Robert married and in 1906 had his first daughter.
During the next twenty years Robert developed his skills a s a carpenter and stonemason.
In 1919 Robert accepted his first commission from father Paul Neville of ambleforth. More commissions followed after this and by 1925 Robert had 6 men working for him. In 1928 he received his first commission from the USA for a dining table and four chairs and had expanded his labouring hands from 6 to 10 craftsmen. By 1934 the craftsmen increased to 30 and the workshop enlarged.
Robert Thompsons trade mark mouse first appeared around 1920, and was continuously modified in 1930 to remove the front legs which were prone to breaking off. The mouse is an important identifier in assessing the age of a certain piece of furniture. Robert didn’t always place a mouse on every piece of furniture they produced.
Each piece of furniture is entirely hand made and is the sole responsibility of one craftsman from selection of timber.(Only the finest and naturalist English oak was used)to the final coat of wax, including the individual mouse. The final colour was achieved by the fuming process and can vary from light to dark depending on the required colour.
Fuming the wood is a technique used during the arts and crafts movement in the early 1900’s.
Gustav stickley, a maker of a mission furniture, preferred fuming because it accentuates the medulary ray fleck pattern that quarter-sawn whit oak is known for.
The fuming process causes the ammonia fumes to react with the tannic acid in the seasoned oak and produce the characteristic colour.
SOLD
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