Robert "Mouseman" Thompson (7 May 1876 – 8 December 1955), also known as Mousey Thompson, was a British

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

maker. He was born and lived in Kilburn,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England, where he set up a business manufacturing

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

furniture, which featured a carved mouse on almost every piece.

Mouseman furniture

It is claimed that the mouse motif came about accidentally in 1919 following a conversation about "being as poor as a church mouse", which took place between Thompson and one of his colleagues during the carving of a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

for a

screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing or ''silkscreening'', a printing method * Big screen, a nickname for motion pictures * Split screen (filmmaking), showing two or more images side by side * Stochastic screening and Halftone ...

. This chance remark led to him carving a mouse and this remained part of his work from this point onwards. Thompson was part of the 1920s revival of craftsmanship, inspired by the

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

led by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

and

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

. More specific to furniture making in this genre and era include Stanley Webb Davies of

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

. The workshop, now being run by his descendants, includes a showroom and the Mouseman Visitor Centre, and is located beside the Parish Church, which contains "Mouseman" pews, fittings and other furniture. The company is now known as "Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd – The Mouseman of Kilburn." Fr Paul Nevill, a former Headmaster of

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition. It opened in 1803 as a boys' school. It is near the villa ...

, asked Thompson to make the

Ampleforth Abbey Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine monks a mile to the east of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It descends from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through the las ...

's furniture; the school liked it so much that Ampleforth kept asking Thompson for more work, including the library and most of the main building. Most of Ampleforth College's houses are now decorated with Robert Thompson's furniture. Another collection of Thompson's work is located at the

Church of St Michael and All Angels, Hubberholme St Michael and All Angels is a parish church in the Church of England in Hubberholme, North Yorkshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The church, and the neighbouring George Inn, were favourite locations of the author J. B. Priestley, whose a ...

in North Yorkshire where, during the 1930s, he designed most of the church's interior furnishings, including pews,

choir stall A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tab ...

s and chairs. Others, including former apprentices who continued in his style working in Yorkshire oak, adopted similar identifying marks and nicknames. These makers include Thomas "Gnomeman" Whittaker (1910–1991), Derek "Lizardman" Slater, Colin "Beaverman" Almack, Robert "Rabbitman" Heap, Graham "Swanman" Duncalf, Alan "Acornman" Grainger, Wilf "Squirrelman" Hutchinson, Albert "Eagleman" Jeffray, Malcolm "Foxman" Pipes, and Shaw & Riley "The Seahorsemen of Hessay".

Gallery

File:Mouseman lychgate at Greenhow - geograph.org.uk - 188580.jpg, Mouseman

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

Greenhow Greenhow is a village in North Yorkshire, England, often referred to as Greenhow Hill. The term ''how'' derives from the Old Norse word ''haugr'' meaning a hill and a mound, so Greenhow literally means 'Green's hill or mound'. History The vil ...

, North Yorkshire File:Mouseman mouse - geograph.org.uk - 188588.jpg, Mouse on the Greenhow lychgate File:Visitor Centre for Thompsons 'Mouseman' Furniture.jpg, Mouseman Visitor Centre in Kilburn, North Yorkshire File:Lectern - St Nicholas' Church Adare.jpg, Lectern - St Nicholas' Church, Adare File:Lectern - St Nicholas' Church Adare2.jpg, Lectern - St Nicholas' Church, Adare File:Railing - St Nicholas' Church Adare.jpg, Railing - St Nicholas' Church, Adare File:Railing - St Nicholas' Church Adare2.jpg, Railing - St Nicholas' Church, Adare

Where to see "Mouseman" furniture

Mouseman Visitor Centre
*

All Saints Church, Allesley All Saints Church is a mediaeval church in the suburban village of Allesley adjoining the City of Coventry, in the West Midlands of England. The building is grade I listed, though churches in ecclesiastical use are exempt from listed building pr ...

Bangor Cathedral Bangor Cathedral () is the cathedral church of Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Deiniol, Saint Deiniol. The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship ...

St Mary's Church, Beverley St Mary's Church is an Church of England, Anglican parish church in Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is designated a Grade I listed building. History St Mary's was established in the first half of the 12th century as a da ...

* Parish Church of St John and St Martin, Beverley *

Craven Museum & Gallery Craven Museum & Gallery is a museum located in the town of Skipton, North Yorkshire, England, in Skipton Town Hall. The museum holds a collection of local artefacts that depict life in Craven from the prehistoric times to the modern day. O ...

The Museum of North Craven Life; The Folly

Settle, North Yorkshire Settle is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town had a population of 2,421 in the 2001 United Kingdom census, 20 ...

St Nicholas' Church, Stevenage St Nicholas' Church is an Anglican parish church in Stevenage, a town in Hertfordshire, England. It occupies a hilltop site above Old Stevenage. It is a Grade I listed building and is composed of a tower, entrance porch, nave, north and south ai ...

, pews (1964) *The Peacock at

Rowsley Rowsley () is a village on the A6 road in the English county of Derbyshire. The population as at the 2011 census was 507. It is at the point where the River Wye flows into the River Derwent and prospered from mills on both. The border of t ...

, Derbyshire
Ampleforth Abbey
* St Nicholas' Church, Adare, Co Limerick, Ireland * St Margaret's Church,

Ridge, Hertfordshire Ridge is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of South Mimms and Ridge, in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, situated between Potters Bar and Shenley, Hertfordshire, Shenley. At the 2011 Census population of Ridge parish was ...

* Pluscarden Abbey, Moray, Scotland *

All Saints' Church, Helmsley The Church of All Saints is an Anglican parish church serving the town of Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England. It is located between the north-west corner of the market square, and Castlegate, on the B1257 road north of Helmsley Castle. Dedi ...

, North Yorkshire

References

External links

Company homepage
in

Old Malton Old Malton is a village in the civil parish of Malton, in North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated just south of the A64 road and is north-east of the town of Malton. The village is on the B1257 which links Malton with the A64 and the ...

War Memorial Hall, quite close to Kilburn {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Robert 1876 births 1955 deaths People from Hambleton District British furniture designers British furniture makers English woodcarvers Place of death missing