OLD TUNBRIDGE WARE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 179, 19 October 1927, Page 7

OLD TUNBRIDGE WARE

INTRODUCED BY ITALIAN

AN ATTRACTIVE CURIO Tunbridge Ware is much sought after to-day in many curio shops. This ware consists of small every-day household items, made usually out of rosewood or mahogany, and decorated with a mosaic pattern composed of hundreds of tiny squares of various coloured woods. The craftsman responsible for the introduction into ling-land of this delicate mosaic work was an Italian exile who settled in Tunbridge Wells during the last decade of the 18tli century. The majority of specimens which appear in the dealers’ windows do not date back, however, beyond 1850, by \a hicli time the art had changed in character and become altogether more elaborate. The examples of earlier years had given place to intricate floral patterns and landscape pictures in which the minute tesserae, or pieces of mosaic, were skilfully glued together and worked on to the surface of the various objects in the form of a veneer. Initial examples were limited to the woods obtainable from the forests of Sussex and Kent. The exquisite emerald tint employed to relieve the general brownish-grey pattern was produced from what is termed “green oak,” or fallen tree branches greened by a natural process through the action of a fungus. Subsequently the wide selection of foreign timbers was laid under requisition, making the designs more ornate and highly coloured. Although the work is now within the scope of the modest purse, values are steadily appreciating. Stamp boxes, thimble cases, paper knives, and the smaller articles may be picked up for four or five shillings. Work-boxes of medium size run to about half a guinea, while a pound will purchase a really fine example. Frequently boxes were decorated with a picture of the house of the owner. Modern examples of the work are still made in various parts of the country. Numerous imitations of the ware are forthcoming from Continental sources, but they are hardly calculated to deceive the most inexperienced eye. The spurious examples appear crude and lacking in finish when compared with the genuine pieces.