This plate provides an excellent illustration of the typical
use of the frame saw, on a trestle rather than in a pit, as utilized since
the days of the Roman Republic or earlier. The frame saw in the Museum
collection is similar to the one illustrated here except it shows no evidence
of any extended handle. Its design and construction remained basically
unchanged for two thousand years. The illustration is from A
Diderot pictorial encyclopedia of trades and industry: Manufacturing and
the technical arts in plates selected from "L'Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire
Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers" of Denis Diderot:
In two volumes, plate 292.
