A dovetail joint is a strong interlocking woodworking joint in which fan-shaped tails cut on one board fit into matching sockets, or pins, cut on another. The angled shape resists being pulled apart in one direction, making the joint ideal for drawer construction, carcase corners and boxes.
Dovetails are one of the most useful features for dating and assessing antique furniture. Early joined oak furniture often used nailed or crude through-dovetails, while from the later seventeenth century cabinetmakers increasingly used finer lapped dovetails, which hide the joint from the front of the drawer. Georgian drawers typically show a few slender, finely cut hand dovetails with visible scribe lines marking their depth, and the pins are often very narrow. Machine-cut dovetails, which appear from the later nineteenth century, are evenly spaced and identical in size, and other machine joints such as the Knapp joint were briefly used in America. When examining a piece, compare the dovetails in every drawer: consistent workmanship suggests originality, whereas mismatched joints may indicate replacement drawers or a marriage. Well-cut dovetails are also a reliable sign of a skilled maker and good-quality construction.
