The Classic Windsor Chair

 

QUESTION: We’ve had a Windsor chair in our family as far back as I can remember. I believe it belonged to my great-great grandmother. Today, I use it as a chair at my computer desk. What can you tell me about this chair?

ANSWER: You have a standard bow-back Windsor chair, the kind found in just about every upper class household in Colonial America. While most people consider them delicate antiques, they’re quite sturdy and have many uses. 

One of the most graceful and usable of all traditional chairs, the Windsor is also the most successful piece of furniture in American history. Its origins, however, are English, dating back to the turned and joined stools of 16th-Century England. The name probably derives from Windsor, where a prolific chairmaker  produced and sold the chairs in the 18th Century. He sent them down the Thames River to London where people referred to them as coming "up from Windsor."

Wheelwrights rather than cabinetmakers made Windsor chairs in England. They remained farmhouse or tavern furniture for a long time. But here in America, homeowners embraced the Windsor as a sort of all-around chair. They could be stored in a hallway and brought into any room that needed more seating when guests arrived. They could be easily carried. And they could be brought outdoors to provide seating on the lawn on hot summer days. Even the most prominent members of Colonial communities used them. George Washington seated his guests on the East portico of Mount Vernon in 30 Windsor chairs.

As a piece of furniture, the Windsor holds historical significance. Thomas Jefferson sat in a bow-back. writing-arm Windsor while composing the first draft of the Declaration of Independence in late June of 1776. And when Benjamin Franklin and other members of the Continental Congress voted to secede from the mother country on , July 1, 1776 in Independence Hall, they sat in bow-back Windsors.

There are eight different kinds of American Windsors, including the low-back, or Philadelphia Windsor, named for the city where a craftsman constructed the first Windsor in the colonies, the comb-back, fan-back, bow-back, loop-back, arch-back or New England armchair, rod-back, and arrow-back. Each had its distinct use. Windsor makers socketed all parts together except for the shaped arms of the fan-back, arrow-back, and rod-back chairs. On these, they doweled the inner ends of the arms or screwed them to the back uprights.

Windsor makers preferred pine, whitewood, and basswood for seats, hickory or ash for spindles, maple. yellow birch, or beech for turned legs. stretchers, and supports, and hickory, oak, ash, or beech for hoops. bows, or combs. And because of this, makers gave their Windsors several coats of dark green paint. In the 19th century, small factory workshops produced Windsors of pine and maple. And even to this day, craftsmen still use the same time-tested techniques for constructing reproduction Windsors. 

Most people are familiar with the low-back, barrel-shaped chairs used from the mid 19th to the early 20th century. These were actually descendants of the earliest low-back Windsor chairs made in America. However, these don’t usually appear in historical house museums from the Colonial period. Made from 1725 to1760, this Philadelphia style chair had blunt-arrow legs—turned legs with a cylindrical lower section and ball.

The comb back was the second type of Windsor chair made in the Colonies. The crest rail with its spindles resembled a wide-toothed comb, hence the name. In both England and America, the Windsor became known as the stick chair. The wide saddle seat is half round with a straight front. The deeply curved one-piece arm terminates in knuckled-curved ends and is supported at front by baluster-turned uprights. The back is formed of nine bulbous spindles that pass through the arms and extend upward into a wide comb with volute ends.

Fan-backs had tall spindles flanked by stiles and came in both armchair and side chair styles. 

Legend says that an archer’s bow influenced the design of the bow back Windsor. Realistically, it probably evolved from the comb back. Also known as the hoop-back or sack-back, this Windsor was the most commonly used in America and England from 1740 to 1800 because of its elliptical seat and seven tapered spindles that pierce a semi-circular arm rail and bowed top rail. 

During the 19th century, the Windsor chair had become more decorative, including those with arrow-shaped splats and paint-decorated 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about old-time winter objects in the 2022/2023 Winter Holiday Edition, with the theme "Winter Memories," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

A Spoonful of Love

 

QUESTION: There are many ways of saying “I love you,” but one of the most unusual is the love spoon. I recently saw several of these in antique shops while traveling through Wales. About all the dealers could tell me about them was that they were gifts of love from a suitor to his true love, a tradition that has existed in Wales for several centuries. I bought one to take home, even though it seemed to be overly priced. What can you tell me about Welsh love spoons?  

ANSWER: Rural lovers with their hearts set on a plain milkmaid would probably have been unable to buy a loving gift for Valentine’s Day back in the in the late 18th and 19th centuries. So they fashioned tokens of their love from whatever was close at hand, using whatever skills they had. Often these gifts might have been small personal items, such as knitting sheathes, stay busks and lace bobbins. But the gift that seemed to have stirred young girls’ hearts the most was the Welsh love spoon.

No one knows why the Welsh made these love spoons. However, there was an earlier tradition among Scandinavians of giving love spoons. However, today most people associate the love spoon with the Welsh.

So why give a spoon? For centuries the humble spoon was one of the most familiar of  household utensils. The practice of storing spoons fitting snugly together prompted people to give a romantic meaning to the word in the 18th century. The delightfully descriptive word “spoonways” eventually embraced the human desire to emulate the closeness of these spoons in bed. The Victorians went further and used the verb “to spoon” to describe courting. In fact, the phrase continued in use well into the 20th century with popular song writers who found it a useful for its ability to rhyme with words such words as moon, June, swoon, and honeymoon.

It’s difficult to be precise about the origins of love spoons. However, enough of them inscribed with a date survive to enable collectors to trace their styles. One of the earliest recorded dates to 1667.

Most of the spoons on the market today date from the late 18th and 19th centuries. Although generations of spoon carvers would have copied styles and designs, dating them is difficult. Those spoons with a broad, flat  pierced handle seem to come predominantly from North Wales, while those that display clumsy carving and a lack of proportion tend to come from Pembrokeshire. The lucky young girl who received one really didn’t care where it came from. 

What’s certain is that such prized possessions would have been displayed in a place of honor and no doubt the most eligible girls could acquire a small collection of these spoons before choosing their mates. The. infinite variety of styles and designs found in Welsh love spoons means that there are no two alike. Their great charm rests in what  they represent and the symbolism in the motifs that carvers used to create them.

The most common of these motifs was naturally the heart. Two hearts intertwined contained even more obvious meaning. Closely associated with the heart, and almost as common, was a motif that looked like a fat comma. This symbol comes from the ancient Egyptians sign for the soul. Thus, hearts and commas declare heart and soul. Keyholes represent another powerful motif, offering a way into the suitor's heart. And even other spoons feature a small muse, and occasionally a key that really helped make the suitor’s feelings known. 

Still, the formalities had to be observed and many love spoons incorporate chains—not simply to demonstrate the skill of the carver—but to indicate the chains that bind a marriage. Shoes and boots also appear frequently on love spoons. The origin of this motif is a reference in the Bible in which the exchange of a shoe signified agreement of a marriage contract.

Carvers often incorporated initials with or without dates, and sometimes created spoons with a deeper, oblong window cutout into which a suitor inserted a piece of paper inscribed with names, dates, or drawings. Likewise, carvers sometimes added shards of broken mirrors. Why they did this is unclear. Perhaps it was to add a note of brightness to their spoon design, for none of these shards was large enough to serve as a looking glass. 

And while they used the most accessible and workable materials to carve their spoons, carvers used a variety of woods, especially easily carved sycamore and fruitwood. 

Occasionally, they created spoons from more exotic woods and materials, such as mahogany, ivory, or whalebone. This suggests that a sailor could have carved the spoon while on a voyage to a distant land. Sailors also seemed more likely to have embellished their spoons with inlaid colored wax or tiny brass pins. Some went even further and incorporated a lantern or cage containing free-moving balls into the handles, showing off the skill of the carver. 

The skill of some of these spoon makers was extraordinary, with the manual dexterity to produce even the most basic spoons. It’s also possible that an especially talented spoon carver could have made spoons for others in his area, accounting for the similarity of designs in spoons from certain places.

Because love spoons now fetch higher prices both in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, it would be easy to give them an importance beyond their humble origins. Essentially, love spoons were simply a declaration of love, pure and simple.  

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about old-time winter objects in the 2022/2023 Winter Holiday Edition, with the theme "Winter Memories," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Anyone for Tea and Cake?

 

QUESTION: Ever since I was a little girl having tea parties for myself and my dollies, I’ve loved little cups and saucers. One of my grandmothers gave me a little tea set for my sixth birthday. I loved that set. Soon my tea parties expanded as I invited my girlfriends to bring their dollies over to visit. As I got older, my interests changed until one day while helping my mother clean our attic, I found my original miniature tea set. Since then, I’ve been collecting miniature cups and saucers. I would love to enhance my collection. Can you advise me on how to do that?

ANSWER: What a charming memory. Collecting miniature cups and saucers and even whole tea sets has been a popular pastime for many people. The chief advantage is that because they’re small, they take up less space, making them ideal for those living in condos and apartments.

Children’s tea sets, first produced for the children of the wealthy, seem to have been created before potters discovered the formula for porcelain in Europe. Metalsmiths crafted the earliest ones of pewter or copper, and in some cases gold or silver. Children’s toy tea sets first appeared in 16th-century Germany, a country known for producing toys in wood and metal.

Porcelain children’s tea sets didn’t appear until the 18th century, but just like the silver and gold ones, only the wealthy could afford them. These sets were generally of very high quality, and people kept them for special occasions. Children’s tea sets didn’t become popular household items until the early to mid 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution. The Universal Exhibition of 1855 in London seems to have been the starting point of their expansion. 

In Colonial America, tea was a family event, with everyone enjoying a break during the day. No doubt make-believe tea time and pretend tea drinking were a part of some children’s playtime activities. Perhaps many little girls played at serving tea and dreamed of having a tea parties of their own. The pieces in these sets usually imitated those in regular sets, differing only in size. Though children’s cups and saucers look like traditional tea cups, only a bit smaller than demitasse cups. The handles were small, and not easy for adult hands to hold.  

Collectors love miniature cups and saucers for their variety, in shape, style, and decoration. They can be classified in two distinct styles—dollhouse-size miniatures and toy-size. 

Dollhouse-size miniatures are the smallest—usually scaled an inch to the foot. During the late 18th century, English and continental makers produced dinnerware sets for fashionable ladies to furnish  miniature rooms in large dollhouses. By the 19th century many more companies produced these sets, making them for both children's and adults' dollhouses.

During the Victorian era, wealthy families furnished a nursery for their children. While adults took tea in the parlor, the children had theirs in the nursery. This practice required child-size tea sets. Teacups held three or four ounces, just the right size for three-year- and up. Manufacturers decorated these pieces with animal themes, nursery rhymes, airy .tales, children's activities and the art of famous illustrators

First made n the early 19th century, Staffordshire ABC ware included more than 700 patterns. The alphabet appears on each piece. In the case of a small one, such as a tea cup, which was too small for the entire alphabet to fit, English manufacturers made the letters smaller or used fewer of them. Today, children's size miniatures are the most abundant and reasonably priced. American production of children's ware reached a peak during World War II before the less costly Japanese ware became available.

Mary of Teck, wife of George V of Great Britain, who reigned from 1910 to 1936, was an avid collector of dollhouses and miniatures. Because of her interest, the hobby regained popularity in the 1930s through the 1950s, making early dollhouse-size miniatures rare.

Toy-size miniatures are larger than the dollhouse-size but smaller than child's size. Novice collectors often mistake them for salesman's samples. These toy-size miniatures served several purposes. First, collectors could display them in a cabinet. Second, they taught children of wealthy families manners and social races in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Makers frequently decorated these teacups and saucers with historical scenes and mottoes.

Manufacturers produced these toy-size cups and saucers in the same forms, shapes and styles as the full-sized ones of the period. The potters of Nuremberg, Germany became famous for their miniature tea sets, decorated in vivid colors. Early tea bowls and saucers made by Meissen occasionally come up for sale. The Dutch produced small pottery items decorated in blue and white in the 17th century and introduced them to England in the 1690s. Soon "baby house waresº were part of Staffordshire potteries’ stock.

Companies such as Coalport, Minton, Spode and Worcester produced miniature creamware, stoneware and porcelain cups and saucers in the 19th century. The Dresden studios decorated miniature cups and saucers, often in the popular quatrefoil shape, in the late 19th century.

The most common examples of toy size cups and saucers found in the marketplace today date from the 20th century. In France several companies in the Limoges area produced them around the turn of the 20th century and still make them today. RS Prussia manufactured examples of lovely molded cups with leafy feet and unusual shaped handles around 1900. English potteries, such as Shelley, Crown Staffordshire, Copeland Spode, Wedgwood, Royal Crown Derby, and Coalport miniature tea sets with trays, which were exact replicas of full-size sets. Collectors especially like the Royal Crown Derby pieces, decorated in the Imari patterns. Probably the hottest miniature cup and saucer in the marketplace today are those made by Shelley. The price for a cup and saucer can reach as high as $250 to $300. In the United States, Leneige Company and Gort China made miniature cups and saucers from 1930 to the 1950s.

The creation of early plastics and Bakelite in the late 19th century marked a huge change in children’s tea set design. Manufacturers still made them in porcelain and more durable stoneware, but plastic sets soon began to emerge. By the mid 20th century, plastic sets and sturdy stoneware became the norm. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about old-time winter objects in the 2022/2023 Winter Holiday Edition, with the theme "Winter Memories," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.