« Some Background on George Hepplewhite | Main | Antique Chair Styles »
More on the Classic Windsor Chair
Continuing with our antique chair guide we’d like to tell you a little more about the classic Windsor chair. A sturdy everyday chair, in its simplest definition is a chair where the back stays, arm supports and legs are all socketed into round holes in the seat. With 250 years of history under its belt on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean it is one of the most widely used designs. The name itself probably comes from where they were mainly produced in the eighteenth century. They used to be called stickbacks but many of the chairs and chair parts were sold in Windsor market near Buckinghamshire. We see the Windsor name in print going all the way back to 1724 where Lord Percival made mention of one.
These stickback chairs no doubt have an even older history and when looking at a late eighteenth century Welsh low back windsor it’s easy to see how the evolved from much older three legged stools common on most farms.
These early country designs began to evolve and assume crisper lines, some elegance and lightness to them.
The Wycombe area was known for producing some of the finer chairs and produce them they did. Mechanization was in its infancy and it is beleived that the first mass produced items were in fact Windsor chairs. Wycombe in its heyday was producing close to 5 000 chairs a day
Windsor chairs were produced in volume in America as well. One main difference in the acceptance of the Windsor is that while it was always seen as a country or garden piece in England while in America from the start it was accepted in homes of all classes.
As the styles evolved we begin to see bow back, fan back, comb back and other varieties take shape. Here are a few styles:
- Arch Back – America 1765 – 1780, mainly made in New England it had the back bow arched together with the back and arms
- Arrow Back – America 1810 – 1835, often made of maple the back splats resembled arrows while the arm were shaped in a cyma curve
- Bow Back 18th and 19th century, also called a sack back can be seen in many of Dickens’ illustrations, the comb was replaced by a bent bow giving the back a double bow
- Chippendale Windsor – English 1770 – 1800came from designs associated with the Chippendale Director 1754, often with pierced splats and cabriole legs
- Comb Back Windsor chair 1700 – 1900 England and America
- Goldsmith chair from Oliver Goldsmith, a Windsor comb back that is still produced and featured splayed legs with an H stretcher
- Philadelphia Comb Back from 5 to 9 spindles running straight up to the comb
- New England comb back 1740 – 1780 balauster turned legs and a more angled rake
- Fan Back Windsor 1750 onwards comb back
- Gothic Windsor 1760 – 1780 England, bow back with gothic carved and pierced splat, similar to church windows and archways
- Captain’s chair 1875 – 1900 America from Mississippi river boats, arms curve downwards
- Firehouse Windsor 1850 – 1870 America U shaped seat with 7 spindles found in - you guessed it, volunteer firehouses as well as hotels
- Smoker’s bow 1830 onwards found in reading rooms, clubs, inns (as well as the old Peel Pub in Montreal), sturdy construction
- Scroll back 1860 – 1890 Regency style with no bow and sticks or comb with the back uprights scrolled over
- Writing Chair 1760 – 1860 America, not produced in England but found all over America and done with many diferent Windsor styles
c 1790, Philadelphia - writing chair
Discovery Terms:
firehouse windsor chairwindsor chairWindsor Chairsantique chair with spindleswindsor furnitureTopics: The Windsor Chair