Who Stole This Solid Ivory Plow Plane?

One of Paul Hamler's reproductions of the Moseley ivory plane. Source: Paul Hamler/Fine Woodworking.

In 1980, an extraordinary solid ivory plow plane was discovered tucked inside a workbench at Record Ridgeway Tool’s London, England, warehouse. The plane, which was made by the Moseley planemaking firm, was scrimshawed with a cacophony of floral patterns, an eagle, royal crest, anchor, and the French word for industry. As far as I know, it’s one of only two known 19th century plow planes made entirely of ivory. Leonard Lee, of Lee Valley Tools, learned about the plane during a visit to London in 1980. The following year, he featured it on the cover of a Lee Valley catalog and on a beautiful limited edition poster.

Paul Hamler, who’s widely known for his incredible reproductions and miniatures, also took an interest in the plane. He and Lee determined it was made by Moseley for the 1855 World’s Fair held in Paris, France. John Moseley was one of London’s major planemakers in the first half of the 19th century. Marples, another major English planemaking firm, began selling Moseley-branded planes around the time Moseley’s sons took over the business in the 1860s. Marples eventually took over the Moseley name in the 1890s.

After its discovery in 1980, Record Ridgeway (which owned the Marples name at the time) displayed the plane in a case at its London offices. Soon after, an employee allegedly stole the plane after he was fired. The man contacted a tool dealer in England and a collector in the U.S. in an attempt to have it appraised. But before anyone was able to investigate further, the alleged thief died. Subsequent efforts to track down the plane failed. Its last known location is the man’s attic.

Photos of the actual plane taken after Leonard Lee's 1980 visit to London. Photos: The Gristmill.

The plane did not have an easy life. The back side was severely damaged at some point. Hamler found that 3 1/2 to 4 inches of the arms had been cut off, possibly to make it small enough to fit in the workbench or remove damage done to the brittle ivory. Using photos of the original, Hamler made several reproductions of the plane (see top photo).

The original has never resurfaced. I’m guessing one reason may be that ownership of the Marples name has bounced between various English and American companies over the last few decades. Finding an obscure woodworking tool likely got lost in the bureaucratic shuffle. My limited research hasn’t turned up anything. If any English subscribers want to team up to try and track it down, let me know!

Paul Hamler wrote about the discovery of the plane and his reproductions in the March 2001 issue of The Gristmill. M-WTCA members can read it here.

Interested in more stories about crime and war?

• Who Stole This Solid Ivory Plow Plane?
• Why Did an Arsonist Keep Setting This Planemaker's Shop on Fire?
• Offcuts: Plane Murders and a Brass Ribbon Plow Plane
• 'A hot fire from all sides': Planemakers in the American Revolutionary War
• The Assassination of the Duke of Planes
• The Planemaker in Internment Camp 3

Two New Videos

I think John Lindenberger, the 18th century planemaker, has a fascinating life story. I’ve been wanting to do a video on him and the intersection of craftsmanship and politics that was happening in his home town of Providence after he came back from fighting in the Revolutionary War. I decided to tie it into some ideas I’ve had about how we tell stories about history. Unfortunately, I think I was a bit too ambitious and the video tanked. I’ll stick with how-to videos for a while. I’m currently shooting a video on re-mouthing planes, which will come out in the middle of next month.

Plow Plane Giveaway/Survey Results

The giveaway ended up being a ton of fun. A newsletter subscriber in Alaska won the plane. I really appreciate the hundreds of people who responded to the survey. Here’s what you folks voted for more of:

• 48% How-to videos and newsletters
• 12% Planemaking outside of the U.S. and England
• 11% Planemaker biographies
• 10% More of the Everybody’s Making Planes series
• 10% Longform essays

As for the one person who voted for shorter newsletters, I hear you, I really do. I don’t plan on them being so long. I thought this newsletter was going to be a hundred or so words. But then I found more and more about the plane and I just couldn’t stop…