Figure 22. — 1756: The highly elabo- 

 rated stock and rosette-incised wedge 

 of the smoothing plane recall the 

 decoration on furniture of the period. 

 The plane is of Dutch origin. (Smith- 

 sonian photo 4g7g2-F.) 



Figure 23. — 1809: This bench plane of Ger- 

 man origin is dated 1809. It is of a tradi- 

 tional form that persists to the present day. 

 The planes pictured in figures 21, 22, and 23 

 are similar to the type brought to North 

 America by non-English colonists. (Private 

 collection. Smithsonian photo 49793-F.) 



made by E. W. Carpenter of Lancaster, Pennsylvania 

 (fig. 25) ; and a jack or foreplane, for rough surfacing 

 (accession 61.547), made by A. Klock and dated 

 1 81 8 as seen in figure 26. 



The question of dating arises, since only the Klock 

 piece is firmly fi.\ed. How, for example, is the early 

 19th-century attribution arrived at for the planes 

 inscribed White and Carpenter? First, the nature of 

 the stamped name "G. White" is of proper character 

 for the period. Second, G. White is listed in the 

 Philadelphia city directories as a "plane-maker" 

 between the years 1818 and 1820, working at the 

 back of 5 Filbert Street and later at 34 Juliana 



Figure 24. — About 1818: This plow plane, used to 

 cut narrow channels on the edges of boards, was 

 made by G. White of Philadelphia in the early 19th 

 century. It is essentially the same tool depicted in 

 the catalogues of Sheffield manufactures and in the 

 plates from Martin and Nicholson. The pattern 

 of the basic bench tools used in America consistently 

 followed British design, at least until the last 

 quarter of the 19th century. (Private collection. 

 Smithsonian photo 49794-E.) 



Street. Third, internal evidence on the plane itself 

 gives a clue. In this case, the hardware — rivets and 

 ferrels — is similar if not identical to that found on 

 firearms of the period, weapons whose dates of man- 

 ufacture are known. The decorative molding on 

 the fence of this plane is proper for the period; 



198 



BULLETIN 24 1 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



