An extremely rare solid oak carved owl by the ex Mouseman craftsmen John Stephen Minican of Sowerby, Thirsk. (Please note, his surname is widely misspelt as ‘Minikin’ by auction houses and elsewhere online)

Superbly observed and detailed carving, which is no surprise, he worked very closely with master carver Stan Dodds at Robert Thompson’s from the 1960s onwards. He especially enjoyed carving owls and did in fact carve a large number of the ‘Mouseman’ owls during his many years as a R. Thompson’s craftsman. He later worked with Phil ‘Cartwheelman’ Langstaff at Carthouse Furniture, Treske Furniture and more recently with Wilf and Trevor Hutchinson at Squirrel Furniture, as their specialist carver. Sadly, advancing years and ill health now make carving with Trevor much more difficult.

The exquisite carving details of the feathers are just as you would expect on a Mouseman example, less of course the mouse in the talons of the owl. In this example the eyes have been hand painted by John. It is signed with his initials J.S.M to the lower rear of the adzed block stump the owl is perched upon. A quiet, diligent and dignified man, his solo output is extremely small, but we have seen this J.S.M signature on a very small number of bespoke commissioned pieces he’s made for close friends and acquaintances.

We also have it on good authority that he made just 3 or 4 owls which are signed with a grasshopper to the underside, which was to become recognised as his ‘Critter’ signature on commercially made solo work. It is possible the J.S.M signed owl is unique. If it is possible for John to add any further details we will advise accordingly.

It presents in superb condition with a medium fumed colour. We can’t fault it at all, having studied it closely whilst we’ve gently cleaned and clear wax polished it. It is baize lined to the underside.

With prices for the ‘Mouseman’ examples having tripled in recent years and now all making £ 6,000 + hammer prices at auction (excluding an additional buyers premiums of 25-30%) we believe this rare example from John Minican represents superb value for collectors of Mouseman and the Yorkshire craftsmen’s work.

Size: 10.5(w) x 10.5(d) x 32(h)cm

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Stock ref: DS3116