Figure 47. — i8th century: The vis- 

 ually pleasing qualities of walnut and 

 brass provide a level of response to 

 this joiner's bevel quite apart from 

 its technical significance. (Private 

 collection. Smithsonian photo 

 49793-B.) 



Figure 48. — i 8th century; The handle of the comp.'^ss s.wv, characteristically Dutch in shape, 

 is an outstanding example of a recurring functional design, one which varied according to 

 the hand of the sawer. (Smithsonian photo 49789-C.) 



versions all of the features of the modern brace and bit. 

 Henry Ward Beecher, impressed by the growing 

 sophistication of the toolmakers, described the hand 

 tool in a most realistic and objective manner as an 

 "extension of a man's hand." The antiquarian, 

 attuned to more subjective and romantic appraisals, 

 will find this hardly sufficient. Look at the uphol- 

 sterer's hammer (accession 61.35) seen in figure 

 45: there is no question that it is a response to 

 a demanding task that required an efficient and 

 not too forceful extension of the workman's hand. 

 But there is another response to this implement: 

 namely, the admiration for an unknown toolmaker 

 who combined in an elementary striking tool a 

 hammerhead of well-weighted proportion to be 

 wielded gently through the medium of an extremely 

 delicate handle. In short, here is an object about 

 whose provenance one need know very little in order 



to enjoy it aesthetically. In a like manner, the 18th- 

 century bitstock of Flemish origin (fig. 46), the English 

 cabinetmaker's bevel of the same century (fig. 47), 

 and the compass saw (accession 61.52, fig. 48) capture 

 in their basic design something beyond the functional 

 extension of the craftsman's hand. The slow 

 curve of the bitstock, never identical from one early 

 exainple to another, is lost in later factory-made 

 versions ; so too, with the coming of cheap steel, does 

 the combination of wood (walnut) and brass used in 

 the cabinetmaker's bevel slowly disappear; and, 

 finally, in the custom-fitted pistol-like grip of the 

 saw, there is an identity, in feeling at least, between 

 craftsman and tool never quite achieved in later 

 mass-produced versions. 



Occasionally, ruling taste is reflected in the design 

 of the carpenter's equipment. Notable is the "gentle- 

 man's tool chest" (fig. 49) advertised in the pattern 



PAPER 51: WOODWORKING TOOLS, 1600-1900 



211 



