Tunbridge Ware

November 1989

Interior Design

During the last three centuries, the term "Tunbridge Ware" has been used
to describe several kinds of small wooden objects made by British
craftsmen in an area of Kent called Tonbridge. More recently it has
become synonymous with a specific type of woodenware adorned with a
characteristic decoration of colored wood mosaic developed in the 1820s.
The production of these pieces centered in a town called Tunbridge Wells
which had a history as a vacation resort, and the ornamental boxes and
bowls, games, picture frames and urns became popular as souvenirs of a
holiday stay.

The discovery of the chalybeate health-giving water in 1606 at Tunbridge
Wells, and the ensuing development of the town as a fashionable spa,
created a small cottage industry of local artisans turning out novel
items for the visiting gentry. Abundant forests and a rich variety of
decorative woods had always encouraged cabinet making and wood working
in the area, and treen (which is the generic term for small woodenware)
was a traditional favorite.

Ironically, on the eve of the great breakthrough in technique that set
the seal on Tunbridge Ware as a distinct craft with boundless artistic
permutations, the society that had inadvertently given rise to the
growth of the industry drifted slowly away in search of more exciting
diversions at Brighton and Bath.

The invention of mosaic work is generally ascribed to James Burrows at
the beginning of the 19th century. The principle on which it is based is
the use of blocks made of sticks of wood in contrasting colors. By
cutting across the blocks at various angles, Burrows realized that he
could create a variety of patterns. To produce stickware, as it is
called, pieces of square, round, triangular or lozenge-shaped wood in 6-
or 7-in. lengths in different colors were grouped to form circular
bundles, then glued together using wet string to hold them all in place
while the animal glue dried. With larger blocks, concentric rings of
sticks were built in layers. When these blocks were turned on the lathe,
the curvilinear patterns of stickware would emerge.

This basic technique lent itself to endless permutations. Typical mosaic
patterns were rendered in woods like yew, cherry, maple, holly, satin,
beech, plum and sycamore. More exotic variations in color--white, red,
yellow, green and black--were produced without artificial dyeing. Green
wood, for example, was obtained locally from oak trees that had been
attacked by a fungus that stained the tissues a brillant emerald, and
ebony was discovered in black and rare red varieties. All in all, about
forty kinds of wood were employed.

Another familiar Tunbridge pattern was the cube. This design was
rendered in a wide range of textures and markings. The pieces of veneer
were applied individually in the manner of parquet. The cube pattern
became popular towards the end of the 18th century and continued until
Tunbridge Ware ceased to be manufactured in the 1930s.

The lap desk in the photograph is a prime example of the genre, and it
clearly illustrates several Tunbridge techniques. On the lid is a panel
of cube pattern. Below it is an intricate rendering of Herstmonceux
Castle in a combination of textured mosaic and marquetry. The
surrounding borders of flowers and leaves are created in mosaic inspired
by or adapted from Berlin woolwork patterns. These designs are drawn on
graph paper like embroidery sheets, with each square marked for the
proper wood. The inside of the desk is inlaid with geometric borders.

This writing box and many other prime examples of Tunbridge Ware can be
found at Antique Cache in the Manhattan Antiques Center on Second Avenue
in New York. Mrs. Steinberg, the doyenne, has gathered an assortment of
this unusual woodenware. Letter boxes, tea caddies, writing desks, glove
boxes, stamp boxes, book racks, inkstands, pin trays, sewing stands and
dresser sets, and all in mint condition, have been bought and sold here.

Tunbridge Ware is easily recognized and highly prized, but pieces of it
can be found. Garvin Mecking on East 11th Street, New York, has an
occasional item of Tunbridge; so does Kentshire Galleries on East 12th
Street. Vito Giallo on Madison Avenue in the 70s has a penchant for
English woodenware, and his shop is worth a visit.