Artifact: Illustration of an Adze
Materials: Illustration
Dimensions:
Date: 1751
Origin: Paris, France
Collection: Diderot et d'Alembert via Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Ledger Entry: Adze
Department: Tool
Customer: William Kitchen
Ledger Page: 119
Imported From: While tools could be produced by local blacksmiths, the availability of raw materials and skilled labor limited the large-scale production of tools in the American colonies. Specialized tools were typically imported from British production centers in London, Birmingham, and Sheffield.
Product Description
With a long handle and a blade with a head, an adze is a tool used for both cutting and pounding. While a combination of tools was often required for various different tasks, over time certain professions became associated with particular tools. At this point the adze became a symbol of the cooper.
Citation: James M. Gaynor and Nancy L. Hagedorn, Tools: Working Wood in Eighteenth-Century America (Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1993).; Diderot et d'Alembert Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (Paris : Chez Briasson, 1751)
Historical Price: 2 shillings, 4 pence; Modern USD: $26.2
Product Variations
The databases record four adzes. They are all labeled as cooper's adzes and are further qualified by weight. Their prices range from two shillings to two shillings four pence.
