An Arts & Crafts Yorkshire School English Oak double wardrobe by Albert 'Eagleman' Jeffray (Ex-Mouseman) made in about 1970. A large and very attractive double wardrobe with copious hanging and drawer space. A very pleasingly simple but elegant design. Featuring:

• Solid English oak throughout.

• Twin doors with single plank hand carved linen fold fielded panels surrounded by rails and stiles joined by through tenons secured with hand made pegs

• Sides and backwith single plank fielded panels surrounded by rails and stiles joined by through tenons secured with hand made pegs

• half penny moulding around the top edge.

• Transverse hanging rail.

• Very well figured quarter-sawn English Oak (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.)

• 3 internal drawers (made with single plank fronts solid drawer carcasses joined with hand-cut lap and through dovetails and solid bases)

• One drawer in the base (made with single plank front solid drawer carcasses joined with hand-cut lap and through dovetails and solid bases)

• Natural oil based finish.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Width 1220mm (4 feet)

• Overall Depth 625mm (2 feet and 1/2 of an inch)

• Overall Height 2040mm (6 feet 8 1/4 inches)

• Internal Depth 570mm (1 foot 10 1/4 inches) [Comfortably enough for a modern coat hanger]

• Hanging height about internal drawers 930mm (3 feet and 1/2 of an inch)

• Base Height 380mm (1 foot 2 3/4 inches)

c. 1970

Albert Jeffray’s carved eagle motif on the side of the plinth

Excellent condition with tight joints, snugly closing doors, smoothly sliding drawers, excellent rich colour and grain and free from woodworm., A few minor water splash marks and dints discoverable upon close inspection.. 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.

Albert 'Eagleman' Jeffray started his career at Robert "Mouseman' Thompson's in 1954 (a year or so prior to Thompsons' death) and continued working there until 1966 when he decided to work on his own and began his career as the 'Eagleman', signing each piece with an incised eagle motif

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