One day in
the standard of living. One said that he was as poor as a church mouse.
Shortly after this the other man carved a mouse on one of his pieces. His
name was Robert Thompson, and he soon gained the nickname Mousey
Thompson, carving a mouse on every item he worked on, whether a screen
for a church or a small bowl for domestic use.
Robert Thompson was born in 1856, five years after the Great Exhibition –
a celebration of industrial design. Robert's life and work was to move in the
opposite direction: a recovery of traditional craftsmanship. His father was the
village joiner, carpenter and wheelwright in the
Kilburn. Robert worked first as an engineer, a job he hated. Then he worked for
his father until the latter's death in 1895. Soon afterwards he started his own
furniture making business. For a long time he had been attracted to the oak
woodwork in local churches, particularly Rippon Cathedral, and began to emulate
the skill of the medieval craftsmen. In this he was part of the Arts and Crafts
Movement founded by William Morris and companions. The difference was that
Thompson was born into the world of rural craftsmanship, so for him it was a more
natural step. On the other side of the country, in Windermere, Stanley Webb
Davies was to do comparable work, as did The Cotswold School of furniture
Makers.
An early boost to his career was a commission from
provide furnishings, particularly for the library. There followed, over the years,
many other commissions in
often encountered in parish churches, always identified by the trademark mouse
which children delight in discovering.
When Robert Thompson died in 1955, his family continued the furniture
making tradition and the firm is now known as Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd.
Four pieces of Mouseman's domestic furniture were offered at Horners auction
on the 16th August 2008. They comprised a coffee table, a bowl, a bread or cheese
board and a book trough. All oak and complete with mouse, they provided a link with
churches and cathedrals so loved by William Morris and Mousey Thompson.
Also included in the sale was a large collection of vintage weights and measures from
the trading standards departments of Gwynedd, Wrexham & Coventry to include full
sets of Victorian & Georgian weights, beam scales, bushel measures etc.
The sale also included the usual high quality entry of varied items; fine jewellery, porcelain, silver, clocks, furniture, books, pictures etc,. For full sale results - see the catalogues and results page.