Information on Original Windsor Bowback Chairs With Rush Seats

Types

• Early American Windsors became known as Philadelphia chairs. New England produced a new Windsor type in which the back flowed continuously into arms. Bowback--also known as "hoop" or "sack" back--was the most prevalent design.

Features

• A separate back and legs fit into holes in the seat. The seat is usually carved from a wood slab. Rush seats, common in ladder back chairs, are rare in Windsors. Windsor chair construction dictates that rushes, if used, must be within a wood frame with sockets for the legs and back.

Materials

• Rush seats for American chairs were woven from rolled cattail leaves--less durable and harder to work with than English reed stems.

Significance

• Solid wood seats were easier to make and longer lasting than rush seating. This enhanced the standard Windsor's popularity.

Fun Fact

• Early Windsors were known as "green chairs"--made from green (unseasoned) wood and often painted green. Victorian fashion favored red and later, black paint. Paint disguised mismatched woods used for the different components. Successive layers of green, red and black paint indicate authenticity.