A Brief History
- Various types of woodwork have been made in the region of Tunbridge Wells in Kent for many centuries. These were mostly by local craftsmen for the use of those who lived in the area. There was plenty of woodland in the area which attracted wood turners and cabinet makers. Some of the earlier boxes date from the 15th century but these bore little resemblance to what later became known as Tunbridge Ware.
The earliest known “Tunbridge Ware” was discovered, if the stories are to be believed, by Lord North in 1606. While out riding he came across a spring with a metallic looking scum on the surface. In order to taste the water he borrowed a small wooden bowl from a nearby cottage. This bowl was of local origin and is the earliest known Tunbridge Ware. The town of Tunbridge Wells grew round the spa water and provided a ready market for local craftsmen to sell their wares as souvenirs to visitors. By the middle of the seventeenth century the industry was well established and it continued to grow into the eighteenth century. Most of the items made during this time were decorated using paints and scorching with hot sand as well as by using different woods such as cherry, holly and sycamore.
It was in the early part of the nineteenth century that Tunbridge Ware came into its own with the invention in 1820 of the tessellated mosaic. While giving the appearance of a true mosaic, the tessellated mosaic was relatively simple although great skill and craftsmanship was required in the execution of each stage. A pattern, such as a flower, was made by gluing strips of different wood together so that the design could be seen end on rather like letters through a stick of seaside rock. Slips of veneer were sliced off this pattern block and laid into the wood of the article being made. Such was the skill of the pattern makers that intricate designs such as birds, moths and even pictures and portraits could be produced.
The use of tessellated mosaic saw the Tunbridge Ware industry grow with items being exported to America and a number of manufacturies enjoying royal patronage. Some of the work produced for the Great Exhibition of 1851 remains to this day as the finest examples of the art.
