Nicholson-Chelor Plane Collection
Early in the 18th century, plane-making, formerly dominated by specialists in England, really took off in New England. At that time Francis Nicholson was manufacturing them in the countryside between Providence and Boston, and unknowingly starting the earliest known dynasty of American tool makers.
Colonial Williamsburg is proud to tell the story of colonial era American-made planes using tools signed by Francis, his son John, and Cesar Chelor, an enslaved African American trained by the elder Nicholson.
By the terms of Francis Nicholson’s will, Chelor was manumitted in 1753 and went into the plane-making business for himself, while John Nicholson briefly did the same. For the next thirty-one years, the freedman’s planes were boldly signed with varying marks including CESAR CHELOR / LIVING * IN / WRENTHAM. This is similar to the way in which both Nicholsons marked their planes. It is estimated that the Nicholson-Chelor dynasty made thousands of high-quality woodworking planes between the 1720s and Chelor’s death in 1784. More than 750 of their planes survive, many bearing the ownership marks of much later craftsmen, attesting to their enduring value as woodworking tools.
This remarkable collection of Nicholson and Chelor planes, assembled by the late David V. Englund of Seattle, Washington, is the largest in existence and encompasses about one third of the known examples. Bequeathed to Colonial Williamsburg in 2016, the Englund Collection contains 248 planes by these three makers, including 76 marked by Cesar Chelor.
Colonial Williamsburg is proud to tell the story of colonial era American-made planes using tools signed by Francis, his son John, and Cesar Chelor, an enslaved African American trained by the elder Nicholson.
By the terms of Francis Nicholson’s will, Chelor was manumitted in 1753 and went into the plane-making business for himself, while John Nicholson briefly did the same. For the next thirty-one years, the freedman’s planes were boldly signed with varying marks including CESAR CHELOR / LIVING * IN / WRENTHAM. This is similar to the way in which both Nicholsons marked their planes. It is estimated that the Nicholson-Chelor dynasty made thousands of high-quality woodworking planes between the 1720s and Chelor’s death in 1784. More than 750 of their planes survive, many bearing the ownership marks of much later craftsmen, attesting to their enduring value as woodworking tools.
This remarkable collection of Nicholson and Chelor planes, assembled by the late David V. Englund of Seattle, Washington, is the largest in existence and encompasses about one third of the known examples. Bequeathed to Colonial Williamsburg in 2016, the Englund Collection contains 248 planes by these three makers, including 76 marked by Cesar Chelor.