An Arts & Crafts Yorkshire School English Oak Dresser by Lyndon 'Cat & Mouseman' Hammell (Ex-Mouseman) c. 1970. A lovely, well proportioned Yorkshire School dresser by one of the rarer makers, providing practical storage with a classic design. Featuring:

• Very well figured quarter-sawn English Oak throughout (quarter-sawing is a method of sawing oak logs to produce boards with superior strength making it less likely to crack shrink or warp. It also gives the finished boards prominent highly decorative 'medullary rays' in its grain.)

• Two single plank fielded panel doors surrounded by rails and stiles joined by through tenons secured with hand made pegs

• Two drawers (made with single plank fronts solid drawer carcasses joined with lap and through dovetails and solid bases)

• Subtly adzed on the top (the subtle surface rippling synonymous with Yorkshire School furniture)

• Single plank fielded panels to the sides and back each surrounded by rails and stiles joined by through tenons secured with pegs

• Upper section with two shelves curved ends and panelled back

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Height 1840mm (6 feet and 1/4 of an inch)

• Overall Width 1370mm (4 feet 5 3/4 inches)

• Overall Depth 450mm (1 foot 5 1/2 inches)

• Base Height 925mm (3 feet and 1/4 of an inch)

• Top Width 1290mm (4 feet 2 3/4 inches)

• Upper shelf depth 90mm ( 3 1/2 inches)

c. 1970

Lyndon Hammel's signature carved Cat & Mouse motif

Very good condition with snugly closing doors, smoothly sliding drawers, tight joints, original finish. Some light surface wear to the finish in places.. If you wish to have further specific photographs or talk to us for a more detailed condition report then please do not hesitate to contact us.

A former apprentice at Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson's workshop who has made high quality Yorkshire School furniture in English oak ever since

The most British of woods, that can produce really special results. English oak has been used for hundreds of years to construct everything from sea-going vessels to fine furniture. Although oak grows widely across Europe and North America, craftsmen continue to cherish English oak which grows more slowly than its foreign counterparts giving it strength, durability. Quarter sawn boards are very straight grained and have distinctive growth rings and medullary rays that give a very beautiful effect as well as being renowned for their superior stability and strength

The Yorkshire School of the Arts & Crafts movement started with Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson's  transformation from jobbing carpenter to master craftsmen. By the mid-1920s he had adopted his trademark mouse (now world renowned as a symbol of quality furniture) and had his own workshop busily employing several men. As the workshop grew and over the years many of the craftsmen have taken their skills and branched out and adopted a trademark of their own, a fox, a lizard, a fish, a rabbit to name but a few, and whilst some have closely stuck to the Mouseman designs others have taken the style and adapted it. Other craftsmen, unconnected to the Mouseman workshop, have also chosen the classic Yorkshire Oak style as their own. Typical Yorkshire school items are in English Oak, with traditional pegged joints and adzed surfaces