Things you didn't know FLAG had done #6 - Carved Wooden Thrush

 60 Years with FLAG: A Thrush with a Warwick pedigree

In 1984, FLAG purchased this beautifully carved wooden thrush for the collection of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum.

It is described as a wood carving of a thrush by Kendall of Warwick, with the additional note that the carver was a member of the Warwick School of Wood Carvers.

 

Although we know little about the individual carving, its attribution connects it to an important tradition in Warwickshire's craft history.

Thomas Henry Kendall (1837–1919) was one of the best known figures associated with the Warwick School of woodcarving. He established his workshop in Chapel Street, Warwick, in 1859, and his workshop became known for highly detailed carvings of birds, animals, flowers and foliage.

Birds were clearly an important part of this tradition. Surviving examples of work associated with Kendall and his workshop include finely carved birds and natural history subjects, demonstrating the extraordinary skill with which the Warwick carvers could transform a piece of wood into a remarkably lifelike creature.

Our thrush is a much quieter composition, perched amongst carved flowers and foliage, but it shows the same fascination with the natural world. The delicacy of the feathers, the shaping of the body and the detailed carving of the flowers all reward a closer look.

Kendall's reputation extended well beyond Warwickshire. Among his notable commissions were 22 carved wooden reliefs of fish, birds and fruit for the Members' Dining Room at the Houses of Parliament, made in 1874.

So, although we have only a small amount of information about this particular object, it gives us a glimpse into a distinctive local tradition of craftsmanship, one for which Warwick became particularly celebrated during the nineteenth century.

Sometimes a museum object doesn't need a long story to make us stop and look. This little thrush is a reminder of the remarkable skill of the local craftspeople who could find beauty in the natural world, and in a piece of wood.

There seems to be a connection with the National Trust too! And I need to investigate this a bit more first. 

The National Trust collection at Wallington includes a pair of limewood carvings from 1878, one showing kingfishers and the other a thrush flying from a rat as it climbs towards a nest containing three eggs. The latter is thought to have been carved by Charles Humphriss, Kendall's studio foreman