Robert Thompson – "The Mouseman" Furniture Maker
One of the most famous Furniture makers in England in the last 80 years is the Mouseman - Richard Thompson who was born in Kilburn, Yorkshire, England on the 7th May 1876. If you love beautiful, handmade wooden furniture that's also highly collectible, you should investigate Robert Thompson's Mouseman furniture. On any piece of Robert Thompson Furniture was carved a mouse – hence his name "The Mouseman".
The story began when one day in 1919 an offhand remark about being as poor as a church mouse, lead him to carve a mouse on the finished cornice he was working on. In that moment, a famous trademark was born - even though it wasn't registered until the 1930's.
Even though Robert Thompson adopted the mouse as his trademark, not all the furniture created in the early years had it.
The patina of the furniture, the colour and degree of adzing, the use of a specific tool to shape the timber, also aid in identifying the pieces that weren't marked with the mouse.
His mouse has changed also.
Thomson removed the front legs from the mouse design in 1930 because they tended to break off easily.
The facts the mouse has no front legs but clearly recognisable whiskers are important things to look for when you find a piece identified as Mouseman furniture for unfortunately, there are imposters. (If you're worried about fakes, check out The Vintage Mouseman. where a "Rogue's gallery" of known replicas and fakes is maintained.)
Each piece of Mouseman Furniture is truly unique. It's not made by committee. Each craftsman starts a piece of furniture and remains responsible for it from selecting the wood to carving the signature mouse. In fact, just by looking at the pieces, most avid collectors of Robert Thompson's furniture can tell which craftsman made the piece.
Inspired by the medieval oak furnishings at Ripon and York Cathedrals, Robert Thompson became determined to spend his life bringing back the spirit of craftsmanship in English Oak, and set about teaching himself how to use traditional craft tools. He soon developed a technique of finishing the surfaces of his oak furniture with a pronounced "tooled" effect using an adze, a medieval tool which had been much used in the past for roughing out the broad shapes of ships' timbers, etc, and this still remains a feature of today's items.
Fr Paul Nevill, a former Headmaster of Ampleforth College asked Thompson to make the Ampleforth Abbey's furniture; they liked it so much that Ampleforth kept asking Thompson for more works, including the library and most of the main building. Fr Gabriel Everitt, current Headmaster, has recently asked the Mouseman company for more work. Most of Ampleforth College houses are decorated with Robert Thompson's furniture.
The "Mouseman" style was based on sound construction and a straightforward fitness for purpose, using the three basic materials of English Oak, real cowhide and wrought iron. During his working life he worked alongside architects such as Sir Giles Scott and J S Syme, who in turn have left their mark on buildings throughout the United Kingdom.
The workshop, which is now being run by his descendants includes a showroom and visitors' centre, and is located beside the Parish Church, which contains "Mouseman" Pews, fittings and other furniture. Please enter into any Search Engine The company which is now known as "Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd - The Mouseman of Kilburn.". The original Robert Thompson – The Mouseman died on December 8th 1955 and is buried in the small church graveyard at Kilburn overlooking his beloved workshop, which was later extended by his two grandsons and is still in production today.
Please visit my Funny Animal Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com
My other website is called Directory of British Icons: http://fabprints.webs.com
The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.
Questions and Answers
Article Tags:
england
,britain
,the mouseman
,miceman
,furniture maker
,carpenter
,richard thompson
,mouse trademark
,antiques
,church furniture
,art gallery
,art prints
,pictures
,posters
,gifts
,collectables
,handmade wooden furniture
Discover coconut oil benefits! Coconut oil is used in many ways. Some use it for making homemade soap. It has outstanding skin care properties. Learn different types of coconut oil and choose the best for you. Homemade skin care products made with coconut oil differ, greatly, from commercial products with harsh foaming agents. Don't miss this important skin care and soap making information!
Ever since I was a child, it has always bothered me why certain disparities between men and women exist when it has long ago been established by the Almighty that every human being has been created equal.
In my hometown, the natives of the land and the Malays would usually engage in trading and sell goods that are considered homegrown in their respective places. This is made possible because it would only take a ferry-ride to reach their destination. Hence, the bartering of goods usually happens on the shore; and, most of the time these goods would include textiles. They were not just ordinary textiles, though. They were first class cloths interwoven by the very hands of man.
While origami is native to the Japanese, the reach of this paper craft has gone globally, even to us Americans who find the sequences of folding paper almost intoxicating. Of particular importance is how to follow the easy origami crane paper folding process; a treasured tradition that is almost considered holy in Japan.
In the event you like arts and crafts and choose to decorate your stuff at household then all you'll need is a computer, a printer and some specific waterslide decal paper. This short article explains the kind of tasks you could do and explains the way to do it. This article will explain to you concerning the four kinds of waterslide paper, their differences, how to use them and some well-known tasks.
England's history is made up of many icons including many discoveries, Inventions, Sports, Music and fashion. The world today would be a much sadder place without tyhe many English contributions to the world.
As an Englishman and a fan of Magic I thought I would write about some of the more famous British Magicians all through our history.
England is one of the oldest European trading countries ( 1500 years old ) and London itself was founded by the Romans in 53 AD. The history of British Retailers is what we British are famous for. The London livery companies could be called the first retail conglomerates in the world which originally started in London as Craft Guilds. Below is some of the history of british shops and their beginnings:
Morse Code is a great communications method and over the years has become famous from the signal the Titanic is sinking or the catching of murderers like Crippen.
As a Sports fan and a Follower of British Motor Racing I thought I would write about Brooklands - the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit constructed at Weybridge, Surrey in 1907 and Britain's first airfield in 1908. Brooklands was the birthplace of British motor sport and aviation, home of Concorde and the site of many engineering and technological achievements throughout the 20th century and beyond.
Discuss this Article
