very unusual and visually distinctive antique american industrial american gothic style horizontal bench drill machine base fabricated by or for the illinois iron and bolt company, carperntersville, il. the highly ornamented cast iron base features gothic arches and quatrefoils. the single cast cross-bracing or stretcher features a centrally located medallion containing the company's monogram in fanciful lettering. the structurally sound and solid base has been brushed down to bare metal and sealed with a clear coat lacquer. the newly added tabletop is made of pine wood with a darkly stained and distressed finish. the company originated around 1853, when george marshall opened a shop that manufactured and repaired reapers. by 1864 he acquired two partners and a stock company was formed and incorporated (this later became the illinois iron & bolt company). i.i. & b was taken over by julius angelo carpenter in 1868. carpenter diversified their product line from reapers and mowers to "thimble skeins for wagons, sad irons, copying presses, seat springs, blacksmith tools, pumps and other articles with a national market." carpenter died in 1880, but the company lived on. by the late 1800's, when all of carpentersville and the two dundees had only 5,000 people, illinois iron & bolt employed 2,000. it made farm machinery, flat irons, thimble skeins, presses and buggy-seat springs. the dawning age of cars and tractors made many of its horse-age products obsolete, resulting in a steady decline in business. the company ceased to exist by the 1970's. measures approximately 33 x 20 x 31 3/4 inches.