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Although
decorative woodware was produced in Tunbridge throughout
most of the C18, it is with the mosaic wares of the C19
that most people associate the term Tunbridge Ware. Indeed
the term is now so loosely applied that any wooden object
with marquetry decoration is invariably referred to as Tunbridge.
The
range of items adorned with Tunbridge Ware finishes is huge,
from tiny cotton reels through boxes of all shapes and uses
to ornately decorated tables and cabinets. Finishes range
from early painted Whitewood through cube work to the more
floral decoration of the late C19.
Scottish
Souvenir Woodware will always be synonymous with the town
of Mauchline in Ayrshire from whence it takes its generic
name of Mauchline Ware. During the C19 Mauchline was the
centre of a large industry manufacturing souvenir wooden
items of great variety. Items produced covered the whole
spectrum of domestic use, and finishes ranged from the signature
transfer ware through tartan ware and fern ware to the rarer
chintz ware and geometric ware.
Select
Bibliography
A
good introduction to both these types of woodware are provided
by the following two small booklets published by Shire Publications
Ltd.
Mauchline
Ware by John Baker
Tunbridge
Ware by Margaret A.V. Gill
More
comprehensive are:-
Tunbridge
Ware and Related European Decorative Woodwares by Brian
Austin. Published by Foulsham 2001.
Tunbridge
and Scottish Souvenir Woodware by Edward H. & Eva R.
Pinto 1970. Out of print but often offered by bookdealers.
Mauchline
Ware A Collector's Guide by David Trachtenberg and Thomas
Keith. Published by the Antique Collectors' Club 2002.
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