This auction is not just for the plane itself but a piece of social history. It's special in as much as I know who it belonged to, when he retired and what furniture factories he worked in during his 40 odd years as a carpenter.

The plane - It was made by the Stewart Spiers factory around 100 years ago and served as a workhorse in the various cabinet and furniture makers workshops around Ayrshire and Renfrewshire for around 55 years before being put in a basement and left untouched for a further 62 years whereupon I re-discovered it.

I got it off of a fellow named Billy Millar and it belobged to his father before him, a Mr William Millar of Beith, Ayrshire. Ayrshire was home to one of the greatest plane-makers of the past 200 years and the village of Beith was home to some of the greatest furniture factories in Scotland. William Millar served his apprenticeship at the McNeil Brothers factory where he was given this plane by a retiring master maker journeyman. He worked at many shops around our area including Hunters Cabinet Works of Lochwinnoch and the Johnston Furniture factory that produced incredibly fine furniture for the likes of the officers deck of the Queen Mary liner. The black and white photo shows the workers of the McNeil Brothers Factory in 1929. It very possible that William Millar is in this photo but Im not sure which lad he is. The last photo is a mid-century Beith-craft piece of furniture which could have been made by Willy...who knows....stranger things happen at sea.

The condition of this plane is typical of a plane that was a workhorse for half a century. The rosewood front bun has been splintered and had a strike button added. The rear handle is a replacement in Mahogany but has been pretty well done. This has an old historic crack near wher it meets the infill but seems solid. The casting has no chips or breaks and the mouth is good, as can be evidenced in photo No.10. The sole is also good with onky minor pitting in a few areas. The basement it was stored in for 62 years was well insulated thankfully.

I myself am a collector of Mathieson planes and think that I can do an honest appraisal of a tool. Of the hundreds of tools Ive sold, Ive never known more of the story than this one. You can be part of this story too!

Enjoy and thank you for reading.

Omar (thegreattoolman)