PIECES of ‘Mouseman’ furniture commissioned in the 1930s by a Keighley wool merchant who lived in Kettlewell are to go under the hammer later this month.

The family collection of the late William Becket Henderson include several pieces of bedroom furniture, designed by Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson, the most desirable of which is expected to be sold for up to £6,000.

Thompson, who signed off his furniture with a carved wooden mouse, lived and worked in Kilburn, and died in 1955. Items of his work include church pews and civic furniture, including several chairs and tables in the council chamber of Skipton Town Hall.

Items from the Henderson collection, due to be sold by Tennants Auctioneers of Leyburn on July 25 as part of a 20th Century design sale, also include a portrait of William Henderson’s son, John, painted by the Skipton and Bradford educated artist Reginald Grange Brundrit.

Tennants say original sales records held in the Mouseman workshop archive at Kilburn, show that William Henderson began commissioning furniture as early as 1926, starting with a table.

The collection includes bedroom furniture, a desk and two corner cupboards, with the most sought after expected to be two impressive 1930s oak panelled double wardrobes, complete with original hand-wrought iron hinges and latches, expected to sell for between £4,000 and £6,000 each, plus buyer’s premium.

Also, two 1930s oak bedside cupboards, which Tennants say are always highly sought-after at auction, are expected to go for between £1,500 and £2,500; and a pair of oak panelled bedsteads, with an estimate of £1,500 to £2,500.

Tennants expects serious collectors will also be interested in the portrait of the young John Henderson, seated on a Mouseman stool, which it expects to be sold for between £300 and £500.

Painted in 1950, the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Brundrit, who died in 1960, was a landscape and portrait painter.

He was a member of the Wharfedale Group of local artists, and had a studio at Linton.

The sale is due to take place on July 23, with viewing available from the day before. A fully illustrated catalogue can be found at: www.tennants.co.uk.