Windsor chair

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The Windsor chair can be defined as any chair that is built with a wooden seat into which are fixed the backrest and undercarriage. Typically, the backrest is formed of steam bent pieces of wood.

1 History
2 Forms and construction
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

It is generally agreed that 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. Introduction to America seems to have been by the 1726 governor of Pennsylvania, Patrick Gordon. The American style evolved from these original chairs brought from the Old Countries.

[edit] Forms and construction

There are about seven distinctive forms. These include:

Sackback
Hoopback
Combback
Continuous arm
Low back
Rod back
Fan back

It is common to find Windsors made in the 1700's that contain three different species of wood. Pine or poplar are common for the seat. Maple makes crisp turnings. Oak, ash, and elm 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 tapered hole is bored in the first piece, the matching cylindrical or tapered end of the second piece is inserted in the hole, and a wedge is driven into the end of the second piece, flaring it tight in the hole. 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.