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The Windsor chair, the prototype of most stick or spindle chairs, has been made since the 17th century and is probably the strongest, most enduring and most influential of all the wooden cottage chairs.
With the spread of the British Empire, the Windsor chair has been taken in all its diverse forms to every corner of the English-speaking world. In Britain, these chairs have traditionally been manufactured in the High Wycombe area of Buckinghamshire, hence the alternative name 'High Wycombe chairs'. The derivation of the name Windsor is uncertain and suggestions that it was bestowed by George III, who ordered some, have been largely dismissed.
Loudon, in his Encyclopedia describes Windsor chairs as 'one of the best kitchen chairs in general use in the midland counties of England' and his general description is still one of the most succinct:
The seats are usually of elm, somewhat hollowed out; the outer rail of the back is a single piece of ash, bent to a horseshoe form by being previously heated or steamed. Its ends are then inserted into two holes bored though the seat and are wedged firmly in from the underside. An additional support is given to the back by two round rails which are also made secure by insertion in two holes formed in a projecting part of the seat.
The chairs were sometimes painted but more frequently stained. Quicklime slacked in urine and laid on the wood while hot, was also used to stain the timber a red colour, and Loudon remarks that 'this is said to be the general practice with the Windsor chair manufacturers in the vicinity of London'.
There are many varieties. Some, made during the 18th century, were fitted with cabriole legs, but the results were a somewhat curious melange. The back spindles may consist of simple turned rods, flat laths or slats, but many contained a wide central vertical splat, usually pierced with a wheel or after the fashion established by Chippendale.
The stretchers may consist of straight, rounded and tapering spindles, or be decorated with simple turnings. Some 18th century versions had steam-bent curved stretchers known as 'crinolines'. The chairs were made both with and without arms. At first, the arm rests were supported by curved timbers, though these were later replaced by the typical 19th century baluster turned upright.
There are many versions and varieties, most of them imported but some surviving from the days of infant Australian enterprise, before the market was flooded with cheap American chairs in the latter part of the 19th century.
As with all dining chairs, the more chairs in the set, the more higher the price per chair. Many "sets" of Windsor chairs are what may be termed a "matched set" or "harlequin set", meaning the chairs are not a true set but closely matching, and therefore should be priced below the level of a true set.