The 8½in (21.5cm) tall square green figure with internal applied murrines and millefiori glass eyes is deemed the rarest of the series. Back in March, Fieldings of Stourbridge took £6900 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) for a similar bird and then £8000 for another in May.
However, these record sums were not sustained with the appearance of a third example at Tennants’ (20% buyer’s premium) Modern Living & Design sale in Leyburn on June 22. The lot sold above hopes of £2500-3000 though, making £3400.
Mouseman priory pieces
Lovers of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson’s furniture are always well catered for at these sales and they bought all bar one of the 71 examples for a total of £74,720.
They included 21 pieces commissioned from Thompson in 1934 for St Hilda’s Priory, Whitby, which has moved to a new home in Yorkshire. Top-seller was a pair of open backed bookcases with penny moulded tops, adjustable shelves and integral benches.
At 6ft 11in (2.11m) tall, they were among the biggest free-standing pieces of furniture the Mouseman ever made and sold just shy of top estimate at £9000.
