How to Identify the Age of Furniture by the Nails
- 1). Look for nails with irregular "rose-shaped" heads. Furniture using nails of this type were used in pieces made before 1790. These nails were hand-forged by blacksmiths.
- 2). Look for nails with square-shaped heads. These nails were used in the manufacture of furniture between 1790 and 1830. This was during the industrial revolution and the nail heads were machined into shape and finished by blacksmiths.
- 3). Look for nails with no heads. "Headless" nails were used by cabinet makers between 1830 and 1890. These nails were machined with a tapered, rectilinear shape.
- 4). Look for nails with more modern head designs. After 1890, the "penny"-shaped head used on many nails today was the main design of nails used in the manufacture of furniture.
- 5). Look for screws. Screws were occasionally used in furniture manufactured before 1830, when machined nails became more prominent. Off-centered screw slots and off-round heads indicate that the screw was forged by a blacksmith, unlike the modern machined screws.
