Windsor Armchair

Date1740-1760

MediumOak and elm (probably)

DimensionsOH: 38 1/4"; H. to seat: 15"; OW: 20 3/4"; OD: 15 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1966-407

DescriptionWindsor Armchair: Plain, bowed cresting rail with five, rounded spindles dowelled into bottom of cresting rail and top of arm rail; flat topped, bowed arm rail spliced in back, and terminating in circular ends; eleven turned spindles between arm rail and seat form the back; thick, slightly shaped saddle seat; three roughly shaped raking octagonal legs and one "square"-sectioned raking leg (a replacement); newer coat of dark green paint over original coat. Construction note: only the left, front leg is dowelled through seat.

Woods: Primary: Oak, Seat: Probably elm.
Label TextWindsor chairs are characterised by their shaped, plank seats with the legs and back elements tenoned into the seat. Chairs of this sort appear in 18th century English paintings and prints being used in gardens and on porches but they also were used inside homes. Most Windsor chairs were produced of multiple types of wood for the different elements (seat, legs, back arms, and spindles) based on the properties of those woods and painted to unify the appearance and protect the surface. Green was a common early color. First produced in England, American Windsor chairmakers copied the form imburing their products with distinct regional design characteristics. This example is of a type commonly made in Devon in the southwest of England.
MarkingsXII on top surface of seat above right, front leg.