Synopsis
An encyclopedic study of the favorite American chair, beloved of both the elite and the common person, and the embodiment of comfort, simplicity and elegance. More than 1000 illustrations accompany this exhaustive history, documenting the Windsor chair in all its regional variations and evolutions.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1996-04-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 744 pages | | Height: | 12.5 in | | Width: | 9.3 in | | Thickness: | 2.5 in | | Weight: | 135.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
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 All major chair patterns are discussed and illustrated, including hundreds of previously unpublished examples from private and public collections.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 ispublished in association with the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, the premier institution devoted to American decorative arts.
Definitive reference on classic American collectible. 744 pages, 1,000 illustrations, checklist of 2,400 chairmakers, more.
Industry Reviews
Thomas Jefferson sat in one, and so did New York City laborer John Cooper. The wooden Windsor armchair, introduced from England to Philadelphia in the 1730s by Penn family-sponsored governor Patrick Gordon, was initially a seat for the elite and prosperous, but after the Revolution it became the favorite chair of the general populace. Combining comfort, sturdy craftsmanship, simplicity and elegance, the Windsor chair, with its raked back and sculptural seat and its splayed legs, implying strength, is prized by collectors. Organized geographically from New England to the South, the Midwest and Canada, and augmented with more than 1000 illustrations (25 in color) and 24 maps, this encyclopedic study meticulously documents the Windsor chair's regional variations and the evolution of a recognizable American style. Decorative arts historian Evans brilliantly situates the chair within the cultural fabric of colonial and federal America. A must for collectors and scholars, this volume is published in association with the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum of Wilmington, Delaware. (May)
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