Windsor chair is a kind of solid wood chair which originated in Britain and has been popular in the United States since then and even up to now. It is a symbol of American middle-class families. Later, it was used by people from all walks of life in the United States, and became the representative of democratic style.
what does a windsor chair look like
This kind of chair takes the solid wood seat surface as the structure center, the chair legs are directly connected with the seat surface under it, and the back is composed of a group of spindle-shaped rods, which are also directly inserted into the seat surface. Unlike other chairs, the rear legs of Windsor chairs do not extend upward to support the back, and the front legs do not extend upward to become armrests. what style is a Windsor chair
There are many legends about how the Windsor chair got its name, but it is most likely because Windsor was an early sales center for wooden chairs produced in the Thames Valley in England, from where the chairs were shipped to London and many other places.
Types of Windsor Chairs
Windsor chair is one of the most characteristic and important popular furniture in The History of the United States, which is loved by people of all classes. To sum up, The American Windsor chair can be divided into nine basic forms: low-back Windsor chairs, comb-back Windsor chairs, fan-back Windsor chairs, Sack-hack Windsor chairs, Continuous-arm or Arch-back Windsor Chairs, Bow-back or Loop-back Windsor chairs, Lever-back Windsor chairs, Rod-back Windsor chairs, and Windsor Settees.
Low-back Windsor Chairs
Widely believed to be the first Windsor chair in the United States, it originated in Philadelphia in the 1740s. The back of the arm is composed of a group of spindle-shaped rods of about the same length, the back of the arm is connected with the armrest into a round curve shape, the middle-upper end of the back of the arm is processed into the same curved shape, the front end of the armrest is bent outward or processed into the shape like the elbow joint.
Comb-back Windsor Chairs
Comb-back Windsor Chair gets its name because the top end of its back is like a comb. This kind of chair was produced in the United States almost at the same time as the low-back Windsor chair, which originated in the 1750s to 1780s. It was the development of a low-back Windsor chair, with the high back providing comfortable support for the human body. It originated in Philadelphia and was later manufactured in New Jersey, New York, and New England. Most Comb-back Windsor Chairs have armrests, and the backrest consists of a group of slender spindle-shaped rods (mostly 9), which pass through the middle of the armrest to the top of the curve-shaped head, shaped as if women used combs at that time, with the two ends of transverse braces picked out, and decorated with swirls.
Fan-back Windsor Chairs
The Fan-backed Windsor chair originated in the 1770s. There are two kinds of armchairs and they have basically the same structure except the armchairs. The spindle-shaped strut on the back of the Fan-Windsor chair spreads out at the top to form a beautiful fan, hence the name of the Fan-back Windsor chair. The graceful whirling wood supports on both ends of the back have different shapes with the slender spindle-shaped strut in the middle (the armrest plum is usually 5, the back chair is usually 7). The back of the scallop Windsor chair is easy to be damaged due to the high and backward tilt, so in order to make up for this defect, some scallop Windsor chairs have added a pair of v-shaped elongated spindle bars on the back, which not only enhances the strength of the back, but also adds beauty to the back.
Sack-hack Windsor Chairs
The Sack-hack Windsor chair, which was originally made in Philadelphia, USA, in about 50 to 60 years in the 18th century, became one of the most popular Windsor chairs in the following 70 years. As a result, a large number of Windsor chairs survive to the present day. It is said that when people used this kind of chair, they used to cover the back of the chair with a cloth bag decorated with ribbons, which was very popular at that time, and fixed it on the armrest in the shape of a circle. The purpose was to prevent the person sitting in the cold room from blowing cold wind. Hence the name of the Sack-hack Windsor chair. The structure of the backrest of the Sack-hack Windsor chair is actually very similar to that of the Comb-back Windsor chair, except that the upper end becomes an arch and it extends forward to connect with the circular armrest.
The upper end of the back of some Windsor chairs is also equipped with a cross bracket similar to the Comb-back Windsor chair. The middle 3-7 spindle rods pass through the bow cross bracket and are then connected with the comb back above. This chair is also called the three-back Windsor chair.
Continuous-arm or Arch-back Windsor Chairs
The back and arms of the chair are integral and composed of a circle, so translated as “Continuous-arm or Arch-back Windsor Chairs.” It originated in the 1780s and is a major innovation in American furniture design. There is no such chair in Europe; it is a Windsor chair peculiar to The United States. The back of this chair was connected to the armrest as a whole, about 2.5cm wide and Zcm thick. The back of the chair bent downward to the armrest position and then twisted it forward to become the armrest. The armrest support leaned forward, which was very popular in New York at that time.
Bow-back or Ioop-back Windsor Chairs
The Bow-back or Loop-back Windsor Chairs, which originated in the 1780s, is one of the most compact and easily machined American Windsor chairs. It is usually made in sets, easy to use, and suitable for any occasion. As a result, Bow-back or Loop-back Windsor Chairs, especially the Bow-back Windsor Armchairs, is more numerous than any other Windsor chair. The back of the Windsor chair is bent downward in an arch, directly connecting the rear end of the chair. There are 3FfP style, connected with the bow back. But there aren’t many of them. A Windsor chair is sometimes called a “Balloon back chair”, for it sometimes contracts inward in the middle of the bow, in imitation of the Hepplewhite chair.
Lever back Windsor chair
The Lever back Windsor chair originated in the early 19th century and was popular for about 30 years. Compared with the traditional Windsor chair in the 18th century, this chair has a great breakthrough in design and structure. There is neither a circle with the back and armrest connected together nor an arched back. Obviously influenced by the federal furniture from L790-1815, the back becomes a little square, which is also the most obvious feature of the Lever back Windsor chair.
The strut between the legs of Lever back Windsor chair also changes the traditional H-shaped connection, but adopts 4 strut between the front legs, the two sides of the back legs, the front and rear strut high, and the two sides low. Legs, backrest wood components are generally processed into a form of bamboo, there are more than 3 legs. The crossbars between the front legs and the back legs are installed in the middle of the bamboo joint position, while the two sides are installed in the bottom of the bamboo joint position under the influence of federal furniture. The armrests of armchairs are also mostly linear. Saddle shape machined by seat surface is not obvious, and its shape is close to square, and the angle at which the spinwood legs spread out is also reduced.
Rod-back Windsor chairs
The Rod-back Windsor chairs originated in the United States and began appearing around the 1760s. Because of its special structure, the number of Windsor chairs is much smaller than other Windsor chairs, and even fewer have survived to this day. The Rod-back Windsor chairs is actually the basic form of the various Windsor chairs described above with a clipboard or a large paddle-shaped solid clipboard at the mouth of the drawer as its main feature, generally located on the right arm of the chair. But occasionally there’s one on the left. Some writing chairs are also installed in the writing board and the bottom of the seat surface drawer, easy to store items.
Windsor Settees
A Windsor Settees is an unupholstered chair with a back that can seat more than two people. The origin of Windsor Settees is as early as that of the Low-back Windsor chair and the Comb-Back Windsor Chair. In fact, it is a lengthened form of the common Windsor chair. There are generally five forms of low-back, comb-back, bow-back, round-back and pole back, but low-back is more common. The seat face is rectangular, the front edge is straight, the whole dug into a saddle shape. Most Of the Windsor Settees have armrests, and only a few of they have no arms, and long chairs have six, eight or even ten legs.
what is a windsor chair worth
Depending on the current market, A set of antique Windsors can sell from about $500 to well into the thousands,. with age being a major factor in valueOf course, in addition to the above 9 basic forms of Windsor Chair, American craftsmen also make many related products, such as Arrow Back Windsor Chair, Windsor Rocking Chair for children, Windsor Chair for children, and scaled down Windsor Chair (not specifically designed for children).