Penrose Antiques

Description

We have for sale a real piece of English industrial history, an unusual Crossley carpet mosaic made between 1860 and 1879 by the well-known carpet manufacturer Crossley & Son of Halifax, Yorkshire. These carpet mosaics came into being as a result of a German refuge by the name of Schubert working for Crossley and sons to start what was referred to as the Mosaic Department. It seems Schubert came to Crossley with an invention, a means of reproducing large numbers of identical pictures manufactured from worsted mohair threads.

This particular example manufactured from threads of multiple colours was known as the children and pigeons design (see Crossley Mosaics by R. A. Innes, 1974) and depicts three children sitting in the sun feeding pigeons. This carpet mosaic measures approximately 16.5 inches (42cm) by 15.5 inches (39.5cm) excluding the frame and is in a very good condition. The mosaic has at some point been re-framed in a good quality pine frame.

The manufacturing process of these carpet mosaics was particularly interesting and only discovered because the Curator of the Halifax Museums at the start of the 20th century, a certain Mr H Ling Roth, interviewed an elderly lady who worked for Crossley at the age of twelve in the Mosaics Department. She was able to explain how coloured worsted fibres of mohair were arranged and compressed as a block in a frame such that at the ends of the block a picture was formed. The beauty of this was the picture generated at one end was a mirror image of the picture created at the other end. A piece of linen was then glued to the end of the block and a 4mm thick slice was cut off the block with a guillotine. This slice along with its associated linen backing was then mounted as a picture or could be converted to a table carpet, doormat, large rug or large tapestry. This process could be performed at both ends meaning that carpet mosaics could be created as mirror images – perfect for the discerning Victorian wishing mirrored pictures either side of the fireplace. Apparently up to 900 mosaics could be created from each block.

Crossley only made carpet mosaics for a short period of time between 1860 and 1879, meaning that although mass produced, they are now rather rare. A large exhibition of Crossley carpet mosaics can be seen in the Lauriston Castle Museum in Edinburgh.