Low-back Windsor armchair

1760-1770

Measurements

27-3/4 in x 25 in x 20-3/4 in

Materials

Tulip poplar (seat), oak (arm bow), hickory (spindles), maple (arm supports, legs, stretchers, and possibly comb)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.596

Inscription

“E” is scratched into the front of seat underside.

Condition Notes

The comb above the arm bow has split at the right end where a wood peg attaches it to the bow.  Its color difference suggests that it is a replacement.  All paint has been stripped from the chair.

Provenance

Bequest of Dr. and Mrs. J. Newberry Reynolds to The David Wilson Mansion, Inc., in 1942.

Comments

Low-back Windsors were most popular in the 1760s. This example has the typical D-shaped seat, out-curving handholds, and legs with baluster turnings above a cylindrical section and ovoid feet.  The medial stretcher has a bulbous element in the center with rings at each side, representing a slightly later style variant than the more complex turnings with a centered ball and rings.  The thirteen spindles evenly spaced around the back are all wedged from the top. The legs have double wedges.  The incised gutter cut into the seat in front of the spindles runs around the front of the seat and continues along the outside edge.