Wheelbarrow

Description

The wheelbarrow is made of wood, mostly ash, but because of multiple paint layers, some components cannot be identified. It has been painted dark blackish-green over an earlier coat of bright red paint. The deck and headboard are made of pine. The wheel is made of wood with an iron or steel axle. Four iron braces give strength to the vertical component, just behind the wheel. All of the other braces are steam-bent wood. One foot is clad in iron strap, but the other foot has lost its cladding. "Wm. S./1907" is marked on the underside of the platform with white paint.

Notes

If the word elegant is ever applied to a wheelbarrow, this mid-19th century piece deserves to be so called. Obviously the work of an exceptional wagon and sleigh maker, the delicate frame, thin pine decking, and restrained use of iron, makes this wheelbarrow light weight yet strong enough to carry a heavy load. The deck of the wheelbarrow, although mildly dented and scratched, appears to have seen relatively easy duty, possibly moving boxes around the medicine shop or grain sacks around the barns. The construction is extraordinary. The wheel rim is bent from a single piece of ash rather than made of several individual felloes (?). The bent pieces supporting the legs are made of wood rather than iron as might be expected. The deck is fitted flush between the handles. This keeps the deck as low as possible and allows the handles to protect the edges of the thin decking. The frame is assembled with mortise and tenon joints and the decking is screwed to the frame. Over the years, the structural elements of the wheelbarrow have remained tightly assembled. The wheelbarrow is painted a blackish-green color over an earlier coat of bright red. On the bottom in bold white paint is the inscription, "Wm S. 1907," most likely applied by William Sedgwick, one of several members of the Sedgwick family employed at this time by the Church family. In 1907 William worked as a farm hand with Alonzo Hollister bottling medicine.