Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson draws in the crowd

The work of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson drew in the crowds to Tennants Auctioneers’ recent 20th-century Design Sale, with competitive bidding resulting in strong prices throughout the Mouseman section of the sale.

The top lot, selling well above estimate, was a 1940s Mouseman panelled kneehole desk, which sold for a hammer of £7,500. Also selling well was a small but beautifully patinated 1930s Mouseman bowl from the family collection of Mouseman craftsman George Cave, which sold for £2,000. Among the ‘Yorkshire Critters’ furniture and furnishings in the sale, a carved oak owl by Stan ‘Woodpeckerman’ Dodds – an unusual model for the craftsman – sold for £4,000.

Further notable lots of oak and Arts and Crafts included a pair of Victorian carved oak altar angel candlesticks,which sold for £2,200, a circa 1930s Arts and Crafts oak dressing chest made by leading retailer Heal’s, which fetched £750, and a chestnut hanging corner cupboard by Stanley Webb Davis, which sold for £650 – a strong price for a corner cupboard.

Elsewhere in the sale, good prices were achieved for a Martin Brothers stoneware aquatic vase, which sold for £2,500, an exceptionally large Maw & Co. ruby lustre charger of ‘The Stag Hunt’, which hammered at £3,100, and an Art Deco ‘The Master Incolour’ cocktail shaker, selling for £2,200.

With excellent provenance was an Austrian Secessionist Movement hand-knotted wood carpet dating from the 1900s, which sold for £3,000 against an estimate of £200-400. Despite the poor condition, the rug, which had resided from 1928-1951 in an Antwerp house designed by Henricus Joseph Huygh, attracted a number of international bidders.