Reeding Plane
Dateca.1780-1800
Maker
Johann Adam Gramling Sr.
1757 - 1841
MediumBeech, iron, and steel
DimensionsLength: 9"; width: 1 3/16"
Credit LineGift of Thomas Elliott
Object number2024-285
DescriptionReeding plane, for cutting three reeds, with a molded shoulder, and rounded chamfers that end with a turn-out.Label TextThough little is known about this planemaker, it is believed he is the Revolutionary War veteran who appears in the records as Adam Gramlin, or Gramling. Enlisting in the Pennsylvania Battalion of the Flying Camp on July 4, 1776, Gramling served until early 1777 and fought at the battles of Long Island and White Plains.His next enlistment came in the spring of 1778, when volunteered for Col. Benjamin Flower's Company of Artillery Artificers. As an artificer in the Continental Artillery, Gramling was certainly a highly skilled artisan, likely proficient in both woodwork and metal work.
Gramling served until honorably discharged on April 3, 1779, and was granted a pension by the Federal Government in 1819.Inscription(s)Owners initials W•R are incised into the heel.Mark(s)JA GRAMLING in relief within a serrated rectangle (with a downward projection for the larger first two initials), is struck into the toe (Elliott, GAWP 5th ed., p.155).ProvenanceApril 2009, purchased by Thomas Elliott (Westbrook, CT); 2024, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)
