Tool Chest
Legacy
by
Brother H. O. Studley
The look of tool
chests can tell us much about workers and workplaces. While their purpose is to
organize, carry, and protect tools, this chest also suggests what a worker
thinks of himself and how society measures the value of his work.
If the workmanship in a
tool chest is any indication of the maker's talent, then the craftsmanship of
Master carpenter and Freemason H. O. Studley must have been awe-inspiring.
Brother Henry O. Studley (1838-1925)
built this magnificent wall-hung chest while employed by the Poole Piano
Company of Quincy, Massachusetts. In an oak clamshell box adorned with
rosewood, ebony, pearl and ivory, Studley kept both tools he made and a
collection of the finest hand tools made prior to 1900, including a complete
set of woodworking tools as well as machinist and stonemasonry tools. To
pack the 300-plus tools into a case only 19 1/2 inches wide, 39 inches long
and 9 1/2 inches deep, Studley devised a jigsaw puzzle arrangement of flip-up
trays, fold-out layers and hidden compartments. Maine native Pete
Hardwick originally owned the chest, which had been in his family since it was
bequeathed to his grandfather by Studley. Hardwick acquired the chest
from his brother by trading a 1934 Ford sedan for it. A good trade?
It would seem so: Just one tool - the Stanley No. 1 plane housed in the
ebony archway in the upper-left part of the chest - was appraised at $700.00
in 1993. This tool chest was carefully restored to its original splendor
and glory, loaned to the Smithsonian Institution, then displayed in the
National Museum of American History as the centerpiece of woodworking and
other tradesman tool chests. Studley's chest then changed hands again
(for an undisclosed $$$ amount) to another private collector.
Did you know that Studley
had a work bench too?
The Taunton Press, the publisher of Fine Woodworking
Magazine, first ran a photo of the chest in 1988 and printed 20,000 limited
edition posters. These posters now reside in many homes and fine
cabinet/woodworking shops all over the country. They have recently reissued this beautiful
poster for sale at their website below:
http://www.tauntonstore.com/the-studley-tool-chest-poster-011083.html
Watch the YouTube video about the
Studley Tool Chest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9QaFTI2F9c
Read the 1993 Fine Woodworking
article about the Studley Tool Chest
A special "Thanks" to Paul
Beaudoin, a mechanical design drafter and woodworking hobbyist from Derry, New
Hampshire for donating a 1st edition mint condition Studley tool chest poster
and the 1993 Fine Woodworking article for our museum display. "Thanks Paul"
