We have been very fortunate this year in purchasing five early Robert Mouseman Thompson sideboards dating between 1930-50. These five drawer sideboards are our own personal favourites and all now have new homes and our ‘wish list’ for these pieces is now empty.
We are pleased to announce that we now have another fully adzed sideboard circa. 1940 arriving in Barnard Castle soon, a stunning fully adzed piece in superb condition
Researching the works of the Mouseman can be very rewarding and close to us in Barnard Castle we have found yet another link to the famous craftsman Robert Mouseman Thompson of Kilburn.
One hundred years ago Hutton Magna and its neighbour West Layton like many small Yorkshire villages comprised some 55 houses yet 34 men went to fight in the first world war and 12 of them all from Hutton Magna did not return, with one family losing three brothers.
Most villages remembered their dead by erecting a stone monument however Hutton Magna decided to raise £800.00 for a wooden lychgate at the entrance to the churchyard.
It was built by Robert Mouseman Thompson and like other very early pieces doesn’t have a mouse, the gate was unveiled on April 19th 1921 amid great ceremony.
The lychgate is situated in the high street next to The Oak Tree Inn and we recommend a visit to both !
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Yorkshire has a fine pedigree of quality oak furniture – largely thanks to the influence of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson, the acclaimed furniture maker from Kilburn, North Yorkshire who was part of the 1920’s revival of craftsmanship inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement led by William Morris, John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle. His trademark was a carved mouse on each of the pieces of his furniture and this tradition was adopted by his ‘disciples’, who followed his style of working in Yorkshire oak.
There are a number of skilled craftsmen that have left Robert Thompsons and have traded with their own unique signatures and one of these was the master cabinetmaker and wood carver Colin Beaverman Almack, who was trained by Robert Thompson in the 1940s. His trademark was a beaver and he went on to found his own workshop in the nearby village of Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe in 1960.
We are pleased to announce that we have recently acquired from two private estates a number of Beaverman pieces purchased from Colin in the 1970’s
These pieces include a lovely adzed oak drop leaf dining table with 8 dining chairs including 2 carvers each chair carved with a harp designs to the backs and the carvers also having Yorkshire rose carvings.
Today Beaver Furniture can be found in private homes and public buildings across the globe, from Europe to Australia. Specialist commissions have included work for Eton and Ampleforth Colleges and the Chapter House at London’s Southwark Cathedral.
