Hollow Plane
Dateca.1780-1800
Maker
Joshua Wilbur Jr.
1758 - 1836
MediumBirch, iron, and steel
DimensionsLength: 10"; thickness: 15/16"
Credit LineGift of Thomas Elliott
Object number2024-335
DescriptionHollow plane with flat chamfers that end with a slopped line and a turn-out, and a relieved "Jo. Fuller" styled wedge.Label TextBorn into a Loyalist family in Swansea, Massachusetts, Joshua Wilbur, Jr.'s father was imprisoned for refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to the Province when the Revolutionary War began. However, by that time sixteen-year old Joshua had already been bound as an apprentice to David Burr, a housewright in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1777 his name appears next to Burr's on a muster list of Col. Stanton's Regiment of Rhode Island Militia, in which he served for three months of active duty during the war.Moving back to Swansea, MA in about 1784, Wilbur went back to work as housewright, carpenter, builder, and planemaker. At some point he moved to Newport Rhode Island, though not permanently. His products were marketed through William Langley, who advertised in The Newport Mercury of December 10, 1799 that he will sell "a general assortment of joiner's and carpenter's planes, made by Joshua Wilbur, late of this town, a constant supply of which he intends to keep."
By 1805, Joshua Wilbur had again relocated, this time to Exeter, New York, where he would remain for the rest of his life.Mark(s)The toe of the plane marked with JO;WILBUR in relief within a serrated rectangle (Elliott, AWP, p.410, imprint B). Size mark of 5/8 struck into heel, along with owner's initials JS, incuse.ProvenanceJanuary 1999, purchased by Thomas Elliott (Westbrook, CT); 2024, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)
