Windsor chairs made their first appearance in this country about 1730, in Philadelphia, and “Philadelphia made” Windsor chairs soon became very popular. Advertisements of them abound in newspapers up to 1800, and they may be found with the slat-back chairs in almost any country house, frequently upon the piazza, whence many a one has been bought by the keen-eyed collector driving along the road. The original Philadelphia fashion was to paint the chairs green, but after they were made all over the country they were probably painted to suit the taste of the buyer.
Illus. 147.—Comb-back
Windsor Rocking-chair,
1750-1775.
There is a story that the name Windsor was derived from the English town, where one of the royal Georges found in a shepherd’s cottage a chair of this style, which he bought and had others made from,—thereby setting the fashion.
Windsor chairs are found in several styles, two of which are shown in Illustration [146], owned by the writer. Side-chairs like the arm-chair were made with the dividing strip which connects the arms left out, and the rounding top rail continuing down to the seat. The other chair in the illustration is known as a “fan back” from its shape with the flaring top.
Illustration [147] shows a “comb-back” Windsor rocking-chair, owned by Mrs. Clarence R. Hyde, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The middle spindles are extended to form the little head-rest, from which the name is derived.
Illus. 148.—High-back Windsor Arm-chair,
and Child’s Chair, 1750-1775.
A fine, high-backed arm-chair, and a child’s chair are shown in Illustration [148], owned by Miss Mary Coates of Philadelphia. These chairs may have been some of the original Philadelphia-made Windsor chairs, as they were bought in that town by Benjamin Horner, who was born in 1737.
Windsor writing-chairs are occasionally found, and one is shown in Illustration [149], possessing more than common interest, for it is said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson, and upon its table may have been written the Declaration of Independence. It now belongs to the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. The seat is double, the top one revolving. The legs have been shortened.