Skewed Panel Raising Plane
Dateca.1750-1779
Maker
Henry Wetherel Jr.
1729 - 1797
MediumBirch, iron, and steel
DimensionsLength: 14"; width of body: 3" ; height of body: 2 3/8"
Credit LineGift of Thomas Elliott
Object number2024-329
DescriptionSkewed blade panel raising plane with flat chamfers which end with a slopped line and a lamb's tongue, an offset open tote, a round-top iron and wedge. Its fence is a nailed-on replacement.Label TextHenry Wetherel, Jr. is believed to have been apprenticed to his uncle Isaac Wetherel, a blacksmith in Norton, Massachusetts. Multi-talented, Henry occupied himself as a farmer, blacksmith, shop joiner, toolmaker, and planemaker throughout the last half of the 18th century. In 1776, he purportedly served in the Revolutionary War. Wetherel moved to Chatham, Connecticut (now East Hampton) in 1779, and abandoned his earlier location stamp for another advertising his new location. In his will, dated December 20, 1793, Henry Jr. left his blacksmithing shop to his son, Henry III, including "all my trades in the different branches of it." His estate inventory, dated December 24, 1797, included a well-equipped multi-purpose shop, set up for both blacksmithing and woodworking.Mark(s)The toe of the plane marked with H•WETHEREL and IN•NORTON in relief within serrated rectangles (Elliott, AWP, p.401, imprint A).ProvenanceMarch 2003, purchased by Thomas Elliott (Westbrook, CT); 2024, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)
