Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

My grandfather's a really big antique collector, and he gave me this. It's a Cesar Chelor plane from 1725, and Cesar Chelor was the slave of Mr. Nicholson.

APPRAISER

Francis Nicholson was the first known American plane maker, and Cesar Chelor worked for him as a slave, but Francis Nicholson freed him upon his death. So 1753 is when Cesar Chelor became independent and started making planes with his own imprint. He's the first African American to mark tools that he manufactured and one of the first African Americans to have an independent business in this country. And if you read the stamp, it says "Cesar Chelor, living in Wrentham." That's Wrentham, Massachusetts. It's one of the top examples I've ever seen of his work. It's wonderful condition, and the form, it cuts what's called a bolection molding, which is a complex molding. Collectors love that because it's an architectural molding. A Cesar Chelor plane is just the single most desirable molding plane you could ever possibly come by. So I hope you appreciate what a wonderful gift your grandfather gave you.

GUEST

Yeah.

APPRAISER

The market is softer than it had been about five years ago, but I would say an auction estimate on this plane would be about $6,000 to $8,000, and it would have easily brought $12,000 about five or six years ago. Do you think you'll be a tool collector one day?

GUEST

Yeah, probably.

APPRAISER

That's great.