A History of the Windsor Chair

A Gothic Windsor (1755 - 1775)

© Metropolitan Museum of Art

Who made the first Windsor Chairs?

In 1725, the following advertisement was placed in the Stamford Mercury -

THIS is to give Notice to all Gentlemen

and others that have a desire to furnish

themselves with New-fashioned Windsor Chairs

of the best sort, may be furnish’d by Joseph

Newton, the Maker, living at Fenton in the

Parish of Beckingham, Lincolnshire.

Joseph Newton (1676-1752) is the first recorded Windsor chairmaker.

The fact that he describes his chairs as “New-fashioned” suggests exactly that; such chairs were a new and fashionable type of furniture, available to Gentlemen (and others).

John Pitt (1714-1759) is the first Windsor chairmaker with an existing, labelled chair. Pitt was listed in parish records as a wheelwright.

This joins the dots, as the timber, tools and techniques used by Windsor chairmakers and wheelwrights are very similar.

The first Windsors weren’t primitive, country furniture. From their origins in London and the Thames Valley, they were used in the gardens of grand country houses.

Paintings from the mid-1700’s show Windsor chairs being used outdoors, often perched on by a pale aristocrat.

Why are they called Windsor chairs?

It’s something of a mystery.

References to Windsor chairs are very sparse until the 1720s, when they begin to appear in trade advertisements and household inventories.

One theory as to the name is that the town of Windsor, on the River Thames upstream of London, was an important early trading post for such chairs.

Another story has it that they were first used at Windsor Castle by George III.

This probably isn’t true, as the earliest references to Windsor chairs predate his birth.

Whatever the origins, it’s surely not a coincidence that there’s a royal connection.

It’s a canny bit of marketing, after all.

John Pitt, our wheelwright and chairmaker, made his chairs in Slough.

I’m not sure I’d be sat here typing this if he’d stuck with Slough Chairs.

What makes a Windsor Chair?

Windsor isn’t a style, rather a method of construction.

It starts with a solid wooden seat, into which legs are socketed from underneath.

The spindles, arm and back posts are mortised into the top. This makes for a lightweight but sturdy chair.

You can read more about the traditional methods I use to make chairs here.

How did they get popular?

A Windsor chair was originally the work of an individual craftsman, from start to finish.

With a rapidly growing population, the demand for Windsor chairs grew and larger workshops were established.

In an early example of the factory system, a group of sub-trades was established.

The bodger, who lived in the woods where he fashioned legs and stretchers on his makeshift lathe.

The bottomer, no doubt the butt of too many jokes, who carved the seat using an adze and travisher.

The framer, who carefully assembled the chair on his bench.

The finisher, who applied (you guessed it) a finish.

The factory system soon overtook local production in most parts of England and was centred on the Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe.

Bodgers in the woods near Great Hampden - 1900;

© Wycombe Museum

The Victorian Windsor

Most histories of the Windsor chair stop when the factory made chair appears.

The overall standard of chairmaking probably did get worse during the late-1800s.

On the other hand, this is when the Windsor chair began its rise to world domination - with my local town of High Wycombe leading the charge.

So you’ll hopefully forgive me if I continue the story…

By 1875 it is estimated that High Wycombe was producing 4,700 chairs per day.

Without this prodigious output, it’s likely that the Windsor chair would have remained an antique curiosity.

Instead, Windsors were sent all over the world from here in Buckinghamshire.

Despite being made in large factories they were advertised as country style furniture, which (like many of our traditions) is something of a Victorian invention.

I’d argue that the Windsor is actually the first modern chair.

It was made popular by mass manufacturing to serve a booming urban population who wanted simple, homely furniture.

Victorian “Wycombe Windsors” - © FinnKN

The American Windsor

The earliest reference to a Windsor chair is in the 1708 inventory of a Philadelphia merchant, John Jones.

Chairs shipped from England to wealthy settlers became the prototype for the American Windsor.

As these exported Windsors were of the highest quality, a pattern was established which gave the transatlantic version a more delicate and open appearance.

The factory system didn’t take hold in the fledgling USA until the mid-1800s, so the individual maker in a small workshop had more time to develop the craft.

The result was a dizzying range of beautifully made chairs, examples of which I often use as my inspiration in chairmaking.

American Style Bow Back Windsor Chairs - © FinnKN

The Contemporary Windsor

Interest in the traditional Windsor waned during the early years of the twentieth century, as the influence of modern architecture and design took hold.

Fortunately, over in Denmark, Kaare Klint established his Department of Furniture Design in 1924.

Klint was fascinated by vernacular (or everyday) furniture, and kept an early English Windsor as an example for his students.

Two of his graduates, Børge Mogensen and Hans Wegner, were among the foremost furniture designers of the twentieth century and both reimagined the Windsor chair for modern homes.

Mogensen and Wegner grew up in modest, provincial households.

Mogensen’s father was a bricklayer while Wegner’s was a cobbler.

They both trained as joiners before studying under Klint at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.

This background in craftsmanship alongside design is evident throughout their careers.

Børge Mogensen's J52 - Creative Commons License

In 1944, Mogensen designed a Windsor chair for FBD (the Danish Co-operative Society) which was aimed at ordinary families.

The clean lines and lack of fancy turnings pointed the Windsor chair in a new direction.

A couple of years later, Wegner introduced the Peacock Chair - one of his most famous designs.

While not strictly a Windsor (the seat isn’t solid), the beautiful steambent back and hand-shaped spindles show its unmistakable heritage.

For my own work, I take inspiration from both traditional and contemporary chairs.

Please take a look at some of my chairs and see if you can spot the influences.