American Windsor chairs

About this book

American Windsor chairs are among the most widely collected objects in the decorative-arts field, prized by private collectors, museums, and historic sites. First introduced from England in the 1730s, Windsors in America were characterized by much greater innovation and adaptation, reaching their high point during the 1790s, when sales surpassed those of all other chairs combined. Yet the interest continues two centuries later as the antique Windsor market flourishes and many enthusiastic artisans continue the tradition by handcrafting their own products. Nancy Goyne Evans, formerly on the staff at the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, has written the definitive book on American Windsor chairs. Beginning with the form's Classical and European background, and following the evolution of the American industry from a handcraft situation to one of mass production around 1850, she goes on to a comprehensive analysis of Windsor chair design, decoration, and production by region, covering not only the mid-Atlantic states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York) and New England but also the South, the Midwest, and Canada. All major chair patterns are discussed and illustrated, including hundreds of previously unpublished examples from private and public collections. Also reproduced are many works of art and contemporaneous documents in which Windsor chairs are depicted. Maps of each region; a glossary, bibliography, and index; and a remarkable alphabetical checklist giving the names, dates, and locations of about 2,400 chairmakers help to make American Windsor Chairs the indispensable reference for collectors, scholars, and lovers of American decorative arts. It is published in association with the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, the premier institution devoted to American decorative arts.