formed after the gluing of the separate planks (Fig. 5a). Plane marks cross-
ing the joins were very common in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
planks. Tools used for this work were planes, scrapers, and, in rare
instances, small axes (Marette 1961).
The toolmarks on the backs of panels constructed of multiple
planks do not always reveal the same treatment. One plank, for instance,
might showsawmarks, where other planks on the same panel show either
the use of a plane or an ax (Fig. 5b–d). The plane would often have a dent
in the blade that created a ridge. These ridges have, in some instances,
established that the same plane was used on different panels, which thenH O P-M T N C 153Figure 4
Gillis Mostaert, A Landscape with Christ Healing
the Blind Man,ca. 1610. Oil on panel, 35.5 3
53 cm. Woodworkers cutting trunks with
different types of saws. To the right, planks
are stacked for seasoning.
Figure 5a–d
Toolmarks on the backs of panels: (a) After
joining, the panel has been partially thinned
by a roughening plane. The untreated areas in
the lower right and upper middle show the
surface created when the wood was split into
planks. (b) Three planks, all showing saw
marks from a handheld saw, giving the surface
a slightly (here, horizontally) wavy surface;
thicker parts were planed down with a nar-
rower roughening plane. (c) First a broad
plane, with two dents in the blade clearly
visible on the wood, and later a narrowplane
were used to thin the planks down; remains
ofthe sawmarks are still visible in the center.
(d) Three planks having been treated trans-
versely to the grain, after having been previ-
ously treated as in Fig. 5c.
a
b cd