February, 1920 
37 
furnishing with old cottage pieces 
The Story of The Windsor Chair—How to Know the Types—Modern Repro¬ 
duction — The Prices to Pay for Old Examples 
WALTER A. DYER 
The Windsors 
T DIE was when the 
collecting of old fur¬ 
niture was a fad in¬ 
dulged in by a favored 
and eccentric few. Now 
everybody’s doing it. 
The result is that the 
garrets have l^een ran¬ 
sacked from Portland to 
Cleveland and through¬ 
out the South, and the 
dealers have combed the 
field over again and 
again. Old furniture is 
becoming unbelievably 
scarce and the prices 
have risen accordingly. 
Worth-while things cost 
just about twice what they 
did ten years ago or even 
less. Consequently the 
person wdth limited re¬ 
sources but a discrimi¬ 
nating taste is hard put 
to it for a solution of 
the problem. But one 
need not wholly despair 
quite yet. There are still some things that the 
wealthy collectors have scorned or have over¬ 
looked that are not lacking in charm and use¬ 
fulness, though even with these things the 
values have been rising in sympathy. But 
they are still not beyond the dreams of the 
average seekers. 
Of this humbler class of antique furniture, 
I know of nothing more interesting than the 
cottage chairs of the 18th Century. I use this 
term to include a variety of non-drawing-room, 
non-mahogany chairs, 
chairs of painted w'ood 
with wooden or rush 
seats—slat-backs, banis¬ 
ter-backs, and Windsors. 
They are by no means 
lacking in grace and I 
have discovered in them 
a quaintness and a home¬ 
ly charm that is lacking 
in some of their more 
elegant relatives, d'hat 
many others have discov¬ 
ered this also is indi¬ 
cated by the rapidly in¬ 
creasing demand for 
them. 
Of these Windsor arm¬ 
chairs, one is hoop-back 
and two loop-back. The 
•woods are hickory, pine, 
maple, ash and poplar 
First as to the Wind¬ 
sors. Here w’e have a 
group w'ith enough varia¬ 
tions to satisfy the most 
ardent collector’s taste 
for analysis and classi¬ 
fication. Not to go so 
much into detail as to 
confuse a beginner, how¬ 
ever, it is sufficient to 
state a few outstanding 
facts. The Windsor was 
a comfortable, graceful, 
useful chair made entire- 
The “fancy” chair of the early 19t/« Century lends itself to reproduction, cls it can be 
painted and decorated to suit the color scheme of a room. This design is executed in 
white enamel for a bedroom. Courtesy of McHugh 
ly of wood and in a va¬ 
riety of forms in this 
country Ijetween 1750 
and 1820,roughly speak¬ 
ing. It had its origin in 
England, and English 
Windsors w’ere brought 
to this country as early 
as 1830. But it was in 
this country that the 
form reached its highest 
development at the hands 
of American chair mak¬ 
ers. 
American Chairs 
The banister-back is not 
so common a type of 
armchair. Collection of 
the Misses Thompson, 
Hempstead, N. V. 
American AVindsors 
w'ere first made in Phila¬ 
delphia about 1845. 
T heir popularity ex¬ 
tended rapidly, and it 
was not long before they 
were being manufactured 
in New York, Boston, 
Baltimore, Salem, New' 
Haven, and elsewhere. 
They l:)ecame the vogue 
in homes of high and low degree and for years 
the Y'indsor was the favorite chair in the vil¬ 
lages and country districts where mahogany 
was scarce or was confined to the parlors. The 
fashion began to decline after 1800. 
Windsors w'ere never made of the more 
elegant cabinet w'oods, and it is a mistake to 
have them so treated in restoration. They 
were usually made of tw'o or three kinds of 
w’ood in the same piece—the hoop of the back 
of hickory; spindles and anns ash or hickor)'; 
legs oak, hickory, or 
maple; seats pine, wdiite- 
wood, beech, etc. 
'Ehey were almost in¬ 
variably painted. Green 
seems to have been the 
poiDular color at first— 
usually dark green or 
apple green—but black 
has always been by far 
the most common color. 
Some W'ere undoubtedly 
painted to suit the tastes 
of the purchaser—usual¬ 
ly red or yellow. It is 
doubtful if they were 
ever painted white. 
Though American 
Y'indsor chairs vary 
wddely in form, from the 
loop-back side chair to 
the comir-back rocker, 
their type characteristics 
are unmistakable. The 
most noticeable feature is 
the back of slender, 
round, upright spokes or 
spindles, varying in 
number but in general 
presenting the effect of 
a graceful outline filled 
with parallel lines. The 
{Continued on page 66) 
