Nancy Goyne Evans
Politics, Enterprise, and Design: The Nature and Influence of Windsor Chairmaking in Early Federal Rhode Island

American Furniture 1999

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Map of Newport, Rhode Island, Charles Blaskowitz, surveyor, for the British Admiralty, 1777. Paper. Dimensions not recorded. (Courtesy, Newport Historical Society.)

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Sack-back Windsor armchair with back extension, probably Providence, Rhode Island, 1780–1785. Chestnut (seat) with maple and oak. H. 43 7/8", W. 28" (arms), D. 14 1/4". (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, Rhode Island, 1780–1790. Probably yellow poplar (seat) with maple and oak. H. 37 1/2", W. 20 1/8" (crest), D. 15 7/8". (Thomas B. Rentsehler collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, Ebenezer Tracy, Sr., Lisbon Township, New London County, Connecticut, ca. 1787–1795. Chestnut (seat) with maple and other woods. H. 37 1/2", W. 25" (arms), D. 15 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, eastern Connecticut, 1790–1800. Probably yellow poplar (seat) with maple and oak. H. 36 1/4", W. 24 5/8" (arms), D. 16". (Courtesy, Connecticut Historical Society; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, Elijah Tracy, Lisbon Township, New London County, Connecticut, ca. 1787–1795. Chestnut (seat). H. 37 3/8", W. 20 1/4" (crest), D. 16 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, Connecticut–Rhode Island border region, 1790–1800. Pine (seat) with maple, oak, and ash. H. 34 1/2", W. 20 5/8" (crest), D. 15 3/8". (Courtesy, University of Rhode Island; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, attributed to Samuel Hemenway, Shoreham, Vermont, ca. 1792–1800. Basswood (seat, microanalysis). 
    H. 34 1/4", W. 20 3/4" (seat), D. 16". (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, central Vermont, ca. 1794–1800. Maple, oak, and other woods. H. 36 1/4", W. 21 7/8" (crest), D. 16 1/4". (Steven and Helen Kellogg collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, Rhode Island, 1785–1800. Maple (seat) with white oak, ash, and hickory (microanalysis). H. 27 3/4", W. 22 1/2" (arms), D. 22 1/4" (legs). (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg.)

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, Connecticut–Rhode Island border region, 1792–1800. Probably pine (seat) with maple, oak, and ash. H. 38 5/8", W. 24 5/8" (arms), D. 16 1/2". (Mary Means Huber collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, Connecticut–Rhode Island border region, 1790–1800. Probably pine (seat). H. 36 3/4", W. 23 3/4" (arms), D. 16 3/8". (Courtesy, Danbury Museum and Historical Society, Danbury, Connecticut.)

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, Rhode Island, 1780–1790. Maple (seat). Dimensions unknown. (Private collection.)

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Continuous-bow Windsor armchair, probably northern Vermont, 1795–1805. Woods not recorded. H. 36 3/8", W. 23 7/8" (arms), D. 15 1/4". (Courtesy, Orleans County Historical Society, Brownington, Vermont; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, southeastern New Hampshire, 1790–1800. White pine (seat) with maple, ash, red oak, and white oak (microanalysis). H. 38 1/4", W. 23 1/2" (arms), D. 20 1/4" (legs). (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg.)

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    High-back Windsor armchair, Rhode Island, 1790–1800. Maple, ash, oak, and other woods. H. 43 1/8", W. 26 1/4" (arms), D. 14 3/4". (Courtesy, Memorial Hall Museum, Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, Massachusetts; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, southeastern Rhode Island at the Massachusetts border, 1790–1805. Probably yellow poplar (seat) with maple and oak. H. 35 5/8", W. 22 1/8" (crest), D. 16 7/8". (Courtesy, Newport Historical Society; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    High-back Windsor armchair, Plymouth or Bristol counties, Massachusetts, 1795–1805. Probably pine (seat), with oak and other woods. H. 41", W. 26" (arms), D. 15 3/4". (Private collection, on loan to Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Crest detail of high-back Windsor writing-arm chair, southeastern Massachusetts, probably Norfolk County, 1790–1805. Woods not recorded. H. 38", W. 20 3/8" (seat), D. 15 1/4". (Courtesy, Peabody Essex Museum; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

    High-back Windsor armchair, Charles Chase, Nantucket, Massachusetts, 1790–1805. White pine (seat) with birch, ash, and oak (microanalysis). H. 42 3/4", W. 27 3/8" (arms), D. 15 7/8". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, Rhode Island, 1785–1795. Chestnut (seat) with other woods. H. 42 1/2", W. 20 1/2", D. 15 1/4". (Courtesy, Old Sturbridge Village.)

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Sack-back Windsor armchair, Connecticut–Rhode Island border region, 1790–1800. Maple, oak, and other woods. H. 37 1/2", W. 24 3/8" (arms), D. 12 7/8". (Steven and Helen Kellogg collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Bow-back Windsor armchair, Rhode Island, probably Providence, 1790–1800. White pine (seat) with maple, ash, and mahogany (arms). H. 38 3/8", W. 17 1/8", D. 19 3/4". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 24
    Figure 24

    Fan-back Windsor side chair, Boston, Massachusetts, ca. 1793–1798. White pine (seat) with maple and hickory. H. 35 1/4", W. 17 3/8", D. 16 3/8". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 25
    Figure 25

    Seat detail of a bow-back Windsor side chair by William Seaver, Boston, Massachusetts, 1795–1800. White pine (seat) with birch (microanalysis) and other woods. H. 37 3/8", W. 17 1/2", D. 16 1/8". (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 26
    Figure 26

    Detail of a leg from the bow-back Windsor side chair illustrated in fig. 25.

  • Figure 27
    Figure 27

    Detail of the medial stretcher from the bow-back Windsor side chair illustrated in fig. 25.

  • Figure 28
    Figure 28

    Detail of the bow face from the bow-back Windsor side chair illustrated in fig. 25.