Nails and Rivets
Early furniture nails were usually square nails in section; the earliest antique nails were individually forged by hand. The head of the nail was formed by bending it over to form an L-shape or by striking a hand-held mould over the end of the shank to produce a shaped end such as a rose-head. Being hand-forged the variety of shapes and forms were infinite, expensive to produce and consequently they were used sparingly.
