Drawshave, Cooper's

Object Name:

Drawshave, Cooper's

Object ID:

1953.001.11

Date:

1875-1900

Description:

Cooper's draw shave. Steel and wood. Consists of somewhat narrow, slightly concave, cutting edge with heavy metal handle on right side, wood handle on left side. Blade 5.1" wide, area 3.4" high to left and 3" high right end. Blade tapers from sharp edge to about 0.5" near top. Blade curvature: 0.3" deep at center. Handle at right: 1" diameter, 5.9" long. Tapers from round section to thickness of blade at right side. On right side of blade, width of handle 1.1". At left side of blade, handle section starts out 0.9" high, then becomes narrower and curves upward. At its thickest section it turns downward into wooden handle. Handle cylindrical with flat, bulbous bottom end, 1.3" diameter. Some cracks in bottom of handle and peened-over tang is pushed below surface of end. Also, appears to be pin on top surface of handle on end that extends into tang. Medium-brown, fine-grain hardwood. At bottom, tang fairly small. Around top of handle is steel ring, 0.58" high, that acts as reinforcing ferrule for heavy tang section that extends into handle. Small, wooden wedge driven into top end of handle between tang and ferrule. Deep, tapered bevel section on top edge of tool above cutting blade area. Cutting edge of blade has slight curve to it so not as deep on right side. On front surface of blade #5. Below that is horizontal oval with pointed ends stamp: "1837" in center. On bottom edge of stamp: "BUFFALO N [Y]". Top inside edge of stamp: "& I J. WHITE". Almost all metal surfaces are filed or ground smooth. A few small spots of less well-finished surfaces on bottom edge of handles adjacent to cutting blade. Slight deep groove handle surface. Remnants of paper label.

Material:

Metal
Wood
Steel

Dimensions:

H-9.8 W-15.3 D-2 inches

Provenance:

Found by the donor in the attic of the Stratton Company flour mill, Penacook, NH, in 1953, when the mill closed. The mill, eventually owned by the Stratton Company, was built in 1857. They also had a large barrel factory. By 1900, it was the largest flour mill in New England. The donor was vice-president of the company.

Credit Line:

Gift of Donald J. McFarland