Dating Tacks and Nails

Paintings on canvas or linen or silk are stretched over and fastened with tacks along their edges to a wood armature. The age of these tacks or nails gives us general information about the age of the painting.

Tacks, which are short sharp nails with a wide head, date from the late 1700s. Earlier, their had a different shape and are refered to as nails.

From the 1600s to the early 1800s nails were made by hand and the heads had 2 to 6 facets. They are known as rose-head nails.

Starting right around 1800 machine made cut nails appeared. There was some evolution and changes until by 1890 the moden looking nail had developped.

Studying carefully how the nails and tacks were made and their shapes it is possible to date them. Additionally, American, British, European and Asian nails have different shapes making it sometimes possible to determine their origin in addition to their age.

If you think dating and identifying the tacks or nails around your painting could help you, do contact us and we might be able to assist you.