The Antique Marks Blog

Tennants Auctioneers of North Yorkshire, UK, have secured an entire Mouseman commission for sale in July 2008.

Tennants Summer Catalogue sale (July 17-18), includes the complete fixtures and fittings of the Senior Library at Leeds Girls High School, which was completed by the Kilburn workshop and bears Thompson’s famous carved mouse signature motif.

The Leeds school moving and no preservation order was ever placed on the Mouseman interior. It includes 16 tables and 87 chairs, freestanding and fitted bookcases, an alcove seat, radiator covers and wall panelling.

The schools main door and frame will also be offered for sale, inscribed

The gift of a friend for the benefactor who paid Thompson £1222 for his work in 1934.

Robert Thompson was born in 1876 and dedicated his life to the craft of carving and joinery in English Oak.

He taught himself how to use the traditional tools of the trade and by 1919 he was experimenting with his own ideas and producing furniture based on the English styles of the 17th Century.

The famous mouse symbol, found on every item crafted by Robert Thompson has an uncertain history and the story told by Robert Thompson himself is that one of his craftsmen remarked that,

“We’re all as poor as church mice”

Thompson then immediately carved a mouse on the church screen he was working on.

The ‘mousemans’ creations continually prove popular at auction houses everywhere and the Tennants sale is predicted to raise upwards of £100,000.

Get your bids in early……. Current Tennants Sales