Moulding plane blade

This moulding plane blade was stored in a fine early 19th century toolchest. The history of this toolchest is uncertain. Many of the tools in it are marked 'W Gray'. A metal name plate found in one of the drawers carries his name, the word 'pattern' and the address, 'Cavendish Grove, Wandsworth Road'. Gray was living in this area in the mid 19th century. However, many of the boxwood planes, stamped with his owner's mark, were made twenty or thirty years earlier. This moulding plane blade was made by John Partridge of Birmingham and is marked with the number '2'.