Stock ref: DS2390
Circa 1960s-80s
A superb 12″ high solid quarter sawn oak carving of a sparrow hawk by the celebrated ex Mouseman master carver craftsman Stan Dodds. Made personally for his own family use, and hung at home, it is a most fine testiment to his technical carving skill and artistic ability, learn’t under the tutiledge of both Robert Thompson and his master carver in the 1940s, the great George Weightman. Adzed and tooled all over with extremely fine carving details. No faults or losses to the carving details, only the most minor marking to the rear edges of the plaque where it has been wall hung over the years. Excellent medium fumed and waxed colour.
Provenance: from his personal estate.
Stan Dodds (1928-2012). Stan began working as an apprentice for Robert Thompson in 1942 at the age of fourteen. Stan trained under the watchful eye of George Weightman, the workshop’s senior carver who was responsible for some of the finest carvings ever produced at Kilburn. Apart from a two-year National Service stint in the RAF, Dodds continued to work in the Thompson family workshop until his retirement in 1994. Thereafter he worked both on his own and notably with Wilf and Trevor Hutchinson at Squirrel Furniture.
Stan married in 1960. Norma, his wife, was the niece of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson’s granddaughter-in-law. The newly married couple were given the use of a Thompson’s owned house in nearby Osgodby. Here Stan set up his own small workshop ‘out the back’ where he made fine oak carvings in his spare time. The carvings that Stan produced under his own name, both during his years at Kilburn and after his retirement, are particularly fine. The level of detail and refinement in Stan’s carving is testament to his skill and deep understanding of oak. Today, he and George Weightman are regarded as Robert Thompson’s best ever carvers, their work appreciated by avid collectors of Mouseman around the world, whether produced for Robert Thompson’s or in their own spare time for personal use or resale.
Size: 22.5(w) x 2.5(d) x 30.5(h)cm
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