Bow Saw

Date1790-1810

MediumWood, steel, brass, iron, and gut

DimensionsLength: 26 5/8" Height: 11 3/8"

Credit LineGift of Mr. Frank McGregor Smith.

Object number1986-268,67

DescriptionDouble-handled bow saw with "gut and stick" tensioned three-part frame. Turned handles with brass ferrules secure the narrow blade with iron pins at either end.
Label TextWith a blade is tensioned by twisted cords of gut, the elegant bow saw cut smaller, more detailed curves than the frame saw. It was brought to America in 1819 by George W. Cartwright II, a London woodworker whose chest contains Joiner’s and Cabinetmaker’s tools.
MarkingsBlade marked "CAST STEEL."
ProvenanceFrom the George W. Cartwright II tool chest (1986-268,1). He immigrated from London to Ossining, New York in 1819. Cartwright's fitted tool chest contained chisels, planes, sharpening stones, and implements for marking, measuring, carving, and veneering. Many had been made before Cartwright was born, indicating that he probably inherited the tools or bought them secondhand. A substantial number of these tools remain with the chest today.