Robert (Mouseman) Thompson

Robert "Mouseman" Thompson (7 May 1876 – 8 December 1955), also known as Mousey Thompson, was a British furniture maker. He was born and lived in Kilburn, Yorkshire, England, where he set up a business manufacturing oak 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 for a screen. 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 led by William Morris, John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle. More specific to furniture making in this genre and era include Stanley Webb Davies of Windermere.

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, asked Thompson to make Ampleforth Abbey's furniture;

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), Atkinson (1910-?)(apprentice to Robert Thompson), 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

Where to see "Mouseman" furniture Mouseman Visitor Centre: Showroom, Viewing Gallery and Office All Saints Church, Allesley Bangor Cathedral St Mary's Church, Beverley Parish Church of St John and St Martin, Beverley Craven Museum & Gallery The Museum of North Craven Life; The Folly, Settle, North Yorkshire St Nicholas' Church, Stevenage, pews (1964) The Peacock at Rowsley, Derbyshire Immaculate Conception, Sicklinghall LS22 4BD, pews (1960's) Ampleforth Abbey St Nicholas' Church, Adare, Co Limerick, Ireland St Margaret's Church, Ridge, Hertfordshire Pluscarden Abbey, Moray, Scotland All Saints' Church, Helmsley, North Yorkshire Worksop College, Worksop, Nottinghamshire All Saints’ Church, Bolton Percy, North Yorkshire St Peter’s Church, Harrogate, North Yorkshire Church of St Matthias, Malvern Link, Worcestershire; Lady Chapel screen walls. The Star at Harome, North Yorkshire St Mary's Church, Burley in Wharfedale