ional Archives.)]

[Illustration: Figure 43.--1866: THE SIMPLICITY AND STRENGTH of the
brace proposed by J. Parker Gordon is in sharp contrast to the heavily
splinted sides of the wooden brace commonly used in mid-19th-century
America. (Original patent drawing 52,042, U.S. Patent Office, Record
Group 241, the National Archives.)]

[Illustration: Figure 44.--1865: MILTON NOBLES' PATENT perfecting the
chuck which held the auger bit was an important step along the path
which led ultimately to the complete acceptance of the metallic brace.
Barber's ratchet brace shown in figure 66 completes the metamorphosis of
this tool form in the United States. (Original patent drawing 51,660,
U.S. Patent Office, Record Group 241, the National Archives.)]

The carpenter's brace is another instance of divergent design after a
common origin. Refer again to Van Vliet's etching of the woodworker's
shop (fig. 28), to the detail from Moxon (fig. 36), and from Roubo (fig.
37). All show the brace in a form familiar since the Middle Ages, a
shape common to both delineators and craftsmen of the Continent and the
British Isles. But, as the plane changed, so changed the brace. The
standard form of this tool as it was used and produced in the United
States in the 19th century can be seen in another plate from the
catalogue of the Castle Hill Works at Sheffield (fig. 38). This English
influence on American tool design is no surprise, since as early as 1634
William Wood in _New England's Prospect_ suggested that colonists take
to the New World "All manner of Ironwares, as all manner of nailes for
houses ... with Axes both broad and pitching ... All manners of Augers,
piercing bits, Whip-saws, Two handed saws, Froes ..., rings for Bettle
heads, and Iron-wedges."

[Illustration: Figure 45.--19TH CENTURY: THE UPHOLSTERER'S HAMMER is an
unknown; it is not dated, its maker is anonymous, as is its user. It is
of American origin, yet of a style that might have been used in England
or on the Continent. This lack of provenance need not detract from its
significance as a material survival. This hammer, the brace (fig. 46),
the bevel (fig. 47), and the compass saw (fig. 48) are sufficiently
provocative in their design to conjure some image of a technology
dependent upon the skilled hand of craftsmen working in wood and of the
relationship between the hand, the tool, and the finished product.
(Smithsonian photo 49793-A.)]

[Illustration: Figure 46.--18TH CENT