X-Ray of "Brewster" Chair, Imaged 1977

In 1977, questions arose about the authenticity of a celebrated 17th-century chair known as the "Brewster Chair" at The Henry Ford. X-Rays showed the mortise holes on the chair were made by drill bits developed in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. Comparisons with 17th-century chairs and woodworking tools helped conservators and curators prove the museum's chair was a modern woodworker's intentional fake.