Identity of Antique Moulding Plane

[RobertMaddock]

I have a number of wooden planes which have come down through the family at least since the beginning of the last century.

Many if not all are stamped with their owner's name and some with a maker. One is stamped Stewart in addition to an owner and I wonder if that is the company which ceased to exist during the 18 hundreds. I have seen several shots of Stewart planes with the name stamped using a capital Roman type script. The one I have has Stewart capitalised but otherwise in lower case and is in a cursive script with the S having many curls to it. The die must have been a beautiful piece of work.

Is this the same company or just a very unusual owner?

Thanks for your interest

Robert

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Hello Robert, and welcome to the forum!

According to 'British Planemakers from 1700' by W.L.Goodman (second edition), Stewart was the mark used by a firm in Edinburgh from about 1820 to about 1850. It seems that there were three Stewarts, John & Son about 1820, James about 1833/34, and William 1843-50. All were at 65 Nicholson Street, so almost certainly the same family. According to the book, examples of Stewart marks in both Roman capitals and cursive script are recorded.

The time around 1840 to 1860 was the peak of wooden planemaking, there being about 140 known makers operating in Britain at that time. Some were large concerns, some probably one-man bands or family businesses. Stewart is a name that doesn't crop up that often, so is more likely in the latter category.

Knowledge of plane makers is expanding all the time, and my copy of BPM is one edition out of date. It's quite possible that someone with more up-to-date information will be along shortly!

 

[DonMc]

Hi Robert,

I've been hesitant to add to the reply you've already gotten, but decided you might like to see the three reported marks used by the Stewart family of plane making firms in Edinburgh, as shown in the third edition of _British Platemakers from 1700_. One of them seems a clear match for the stamp in your photo. Unfortunately, there is no indication as to possible dates of usage of the stamps, and even if there was a street address as part of the stamp, that wouldn't help much as the location of the various Stewart firms remained relatively stable over the years. There were some variations, but the most common address was 65 Nicolson Street (not Nicholson Street as in BPM-3).

What has been learned after BPM-2 is that John Stewart first shows up as a tool-maker in 1774 on Nicolson's Street. In 1794, he's listed as a "wright and plane maker," and is joined by his son, presumably James, in 1799. From 1797 to 1804, the firm is listed as plane makers, then their listings revert to "tool makers" until 1822. From 1823 to 1835, they are listed mostly as wright's tool makers, with a couple of edge tool maker listings thrown in. Then, from 1836 to 1844, the firm is consistently listed as plane and edge tool manufacturers. I suspect the various iterations of the firm made planes throughout the period from 1774 to, at least, 1844, but thought the listings might indicate some changes in the focus of their activities.

In 1845, the listing of the firm changes from William Stewart to J. & A. Stewart (rather than James & William Stewart as reported in BPM-3), as edge tool makers. I haven't been able to track this down, but it appears that something happened to William. In the 1841 census, he's described as a "plane and edge tool maker," at 65 Nicolson Street, age 25. Other household members are Agnes, Jean and Ann Stewart, and their ages range from 20 to 30. I can't be sure, but I think Jean (Morrison) is William's wife, and Agnes and Ann are sisters. In any event, I'm thinking that Jean and one of William's sisters may have kept the business going until merging with the Thomas A. Mathieson & Co. firm, beginning in 1848.

Hope this has been of some interest.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

 

[RobertMaddock]

Thanks to both of you for the interest and information

Regards

Robert