A Brief History of the Solid Wood Windsor Bentwood Chairs

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:58:39 +0000

There may not be a better known or more duplicated wooden chair in the world than the Windsor. The Windsor is well recognized for its bentwood back frame and its pegged legs going directly in to its wooden seat. The Windsor is differentiated from other styles of chairs because of this styling that normally are framed with an apron.

Somewhere around the beginning of the 18th century, not surprisingly around Windsor Castle in England, this chair was conceived. Although it was the custom that chairs were crafted by cabinetmakers, this chair seems to have been crafted by turners and wheelwrights. This may indeed explain the spoke-like design of the Windsor.

The chair in fashion at the time was the fine Queen Anne and it is likely the wheelwrights tried to fashion a chair but because of more rustic tools and skills they used the round backs and splats of the Queen Anne but incidentally created the Windsor. The English Windsor is in fact well known for its pierced slatted back. A Windsor chairs legs are invariably splayed outward and some even had the fancier cabriole leg rather than the turned. Throughout the 19th century the legs stuck into wood instead of framed with an apron. In the U.S. especially, the style began to be the front two legs only were joined in this way.

It took no time at all for the Windsor to make its way to the New World; first appearing in Philadelphia after 1725 and within a half a century they were the most popular chair in use. The lightweight Windsor had everything a good chair required – strength, beauty, easy to construct, and highly comfortable. The variations they were created in were various and included fan, hoop, comb back, and bow back.

The chairs were usually marriages of different woods; each known for its strengths in the area it was chosen for. The turned parts worked best with maples, oaks, ash, birch or beech. The seats, shaped in a saddle were easier to carve out in pine and birch, or in England elm. The bentwood frames were best suited for birch, beech, hickory or ash. An interesting note about the recognizable saddle seat design – if you find one with a flat seat, especially with tack marks, authorities believe these were originally upholstered.

Today Amish craftsman bring sturdy and exceptionally handsome and functional Windsor chairs to grace any room in your home of office. Built from the finest American hardwoods and stained in your choice of colors, these chairs can be an heirloom treasured for generations.

A Saint Patrick’s Day Tribute: A Brief History of 17th Century Irish Georgian Mahogany Furniture

admin — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:04:20 +0000

The country of Ireland has had many a visitor over the centuries – however, most of them were uninvited. For better or for worse, Ireland has been a country invaded and fought over for many lifetimes. Because of the burning and pillaging of many of the invaders of the Irish isle, very few pieces of art, textile or furniture still exists prior to the 17^th century. After many military campaigns, colonization from England to Scotland little of her woodworking history remains intact. Many of Ireland’s needs were also not indigenously made but were imported from England, reducing the need or desire for Irish made items.

Because of a wholesale depletion of her natural forests in the 1500 and 1600s for timber, Ireland native woods were unavailable to even create furnishings. The golden age of Irish furniture-making began about 1720. It was then that mahogany from the West Indies and South America reached Ireland. The most popular pieces of furniture to ever come out of Ireland are 18th-century Irish Georgian antiques. Irish Georgian furniture can be distinguished because of their worn patina, intense grain and peculiar dimensions. The Irish Georgian pieces may also have deep carvings of masks along with hairy paw feet.

An unusual signature of many of these mahogany pieces was the technique used to blacken with polish to match the very dark bog oak, which was native to Ireland, and commonly used in 17th-century furniture. Experts on Irish furniture like Desmond Fitz Gerald, the Knight of Glin, and James Peill, have dispelled the myth that 18th-century cabinet makers applied thick black varnish to their pieces. They feel, after careful analysis of the varnish on a table which has been at Glin Castle since the 18th century, that there are seven different layers. The first layer is a rich red-brown color applied when the piece was first made. With the later layers large particles of peat smoke had been absorbed. This smoke technique gave the table’s wood a dark color that was sealed by further layers of wax polish.

Seventeenth century Ireland saw a rise in marquetry work. Marquetry is the art of inlaying different woods, and other natural materials, to create a picture on a piece of home furnishing or furniture. From flowers and butterflies to a common figure, the kilted soldier carrying a round shield and claymore (a large medieval sword), marquetry may have been brought to the Irish by way of the Dutch. In fact, the Irish furniture maker may not have been doing the inlays themselves. Specialist in marquetry art may have been producing these fine examples and selling them to be applied by the woodworker on their own creations later. A common belief is that Dutch immigrant workers may have introduced and even provided the marquetry to Ireland.

The post-Queen Anne, Irish Georgian period is memorable for more than the introduction of mahogany. It is said that King George I. cared little about English society, English trade, and none of the Georges could be regarded as patrons of the arts, however it is recognized that from the commencement of the reign of George I. fashion changed. Once again craftsmanship and designers were important and not just their royal patrons.

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A Brief History of the Solid Wood Windsor Bentwood Chairs

A Saint Patrick’s Day Tribute: A Brief History of 17th Century Irish Georgian Mahogany Furniture