Windsor chair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Windsor chair is a chair built with a wooden seat into which are fixed the backrest and undercarriage. Typically, the backrest and sometimes the arm pieces are formed from steam bent pieces of wood.
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[edit] History
Windsor chairs were developed in the late 17th century in the vicinity of High Wycombe but named for the local big town of Windsor, Berkshire, England. Windsor is situated on the Thames, an ideal location at a time when the easiest transportation to London (a prime retail target) was by river. From London the chairs could be shipped on to many other parts of Britain by means of the efficient coastal trade routes.[1] Their introduction to America seems to have been by the 1726 governor of Pennsylvania, Patrick Gordon.
[edit] Forms and construction
There are about seven distinctive forms. These include:
- Sack-back
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- Hoopback
- Comb-back
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- Continuous arm
- Low back
- Rod back
- Fan back
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It is common to find Windsors made in the 1700s that contain three different species of wood. Pine or poplar are common for the seat. Elm is common for seats because its rippled grain gives good cross-grain strength that resists splitting where holes are placed close to the edge of a seat. Maple makes crisp turnings. Oak, ash, and elm[citation needed] all rive (split) and steam bend nicely. They are also straight grained and thus work well for slender spindles.
The wood of the seat is removed to create the saddle. Softer wood makes the shaping of the saddle easier.
The legs are splayed at angles fore-and-aft (rake) as well as side-to-side (splay) to provide actual and visual support of the person sitting. Early chairs made in America usually have stretchers connecting the front and back legs and a cross stretcher connecting the two side stretchers, creating what is known as an "H" stretcher assembly.
"Through-holed and wedged" is one of the primary means of joining Windsor chair parts. A cylindrical or slightly tapered hole is bored in the first piece, the matching cylindrical or tapered end of the second piece is inserted in the hole as a round tenon, and a wedge is driven into the end of this tenon, flaring it tight in the hole. The excess portion of the wedge is then cut flush with the surface. This supplies a mechanical hold that will prevail when the glue fails. In general, early Windsor chair joints are held together mechanically, making glue a redundant detail in their assembly.
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[edit] Painted finishes
British Windsors were frequently bare wood, but American Windsors were always painted.[citation needed] This paint in period would be milk paint, often a light color overpainted with a dark color and then coated with linseed oil for protection of the fragile paint. With wear in use, this paint wears off around the edges and displays a characteristic wear pattern that reveals the paint colors underneath.
As for any antique, this original finish often survives best in unworn areas such as the bottom of the seat or around turnings. Later repainting, even well-intentioned restoration, will diminish the value of an original finish.
[edit] See also
- The Windsor Institute
- The Chair making museum
[edit] References
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A leading expert on Windsor chairs was Tom Crispin of St. Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, whose book 'The Windsor Chair' of 1991 is a classic on the topic, being the product of 40 years of an intelligent dealer and craftsman's observations and research.[2]
Acknowledged experts in the making of American Windsors today are Brian Boggs, Michael Dunbar[3] and Drew Langsner[4].
- ^ Knell, David (2000), English Country Furniture: The Vernacular Tradition 1500-1900, ACC, 310. ISBN 1851493026.
- ^ Thomas Crispin (1991). The Windsor Chair. ISBN 0750901179
- ^ Michael Dunbar (1985). Make a Windsor Chair with Michael Dunbar. Fine Woodworking, Taunton Press. ISBN 0918804213.
- ^ Drew Langsner (1998). The Chairmaker's Workshop: Handcrafting Windsor and Post-and-rung Chairs. Lark Books. ISBN 1887374345.
