A friend has a clunky, heavy wooden (oak) chair that she says is probably 150 years old. I asked how she knew that, and she said she was told that by the ‘antiques’ dealer she bought it from years ago.
While making a minor repair to the chair for her, I noticed the seat was attached with hefty slotted steel screws. They appeared to me to be of the vintage that was common in the 1940’s or 50’s, although I don’t really know that for a fact.
But that led me to wonder whether anyone could age those screws (and hence the chair) with any accuracy. I’m sure someone could put a fairly accurate age on the chair by examining it, but I’m curious whether the screws alone could provide a reasonable clue. Any idea when the ‘modern’ steel slotted screw was used?
Replies
First of all you are in the right part of the country to find a 150 year old chair. To answer your question, yes, screws and hardware in general can be a good indicator of the age of a piece. The problem is that these things are easily changed. a 150 year old chair was old 75 years ago and may have needed some repair. Someone may have upgraded the screws at that time to the more "modern" type. So now you look at the hardware and say the chair can't be 150 years old because the hardware only dates back to the early 20th century.
One question that should be asked is how common was it to use screws in chair construction in the mid-19th century? Screws may not have been that common for any use 150 years ago.
In general the older the screw the more crude it will appear. The head will be more flat than beveled, the end will be blunt not pointed, and the threads may run the full length of the shaft. Sometimes you can tell a very old screw without even removing it because the slot on some of them will not be centered on the head.
I'll bet that somewhere on the internet someone has a timeline of the screw that will help you date yours.
Chuckh -
Thanks. From what I can tell, it looks like screws were originally part of the chair. The seat of this clunker is a curved (concave) section of glued up staves, which sits down onto a set of rails. The only way it is attached at all is via the screws thru the rails into the underside of the seat, so they must have always been there. Yes, it's possible the screws could have been updated, but I don't think they were. It appears that the finish is original (shellac?), and that nothing has been changed from the original. The screws just look a little too modern to me to be 150 years old.
I did search the net before posting the question, but I wasn't able to find anything definitive. Thanks for your info.
Would you post a picture?Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
I would post a picture if I had one of those, uh, whaddaya call 'em, uh, cameras!
The chair may well be 150 YO. Commercial screw making machines came into production about 1840ish. On early wood screws you will find that the head size is smaller than more modern screws, also the taper on the bottom of flat head screws was much steeper. Round heads were very common early on. Hand made screws go back centuries earlier.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Dazz,
Aside from oxidation, a screw may be dated by its point. Pre 1850 screws are identified by their flat points. Post 1850, modern style "gimlet" pointed screws were in wide use. Have to use your judgement as to whether the screws are original; as pointed out, old ones are sometimes replaced with new, when they loosen or are stripped out.
Regards,
Ray Pine
Thanks to all for the info.
These guys will tell you:
... the person managing the list at
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Malcolm
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