SITTING PRETTY:
The Timeless Beauty of the Windsor Chair
By Mary Beth Litrico - Photos by Charles Litrico

     Linda Campbell awoke one day to find her husband, Wayne Campbell, making Windsor chairs
in their living room. This was not what she expected to develop when Mr. Campbell thought of
what to do when he retired. Originally, the Campbells started going to antique stores as a "cheap,
inexpensive hobby." At first, Mr. Campbell was drawn to old hand tools. This was no surprise since
he had always been interested in "old stuff." Eighteenth century furniture especially caught his eye.
"One of the things that has always puzzled me was how these people made such beautiful pieces [of
furniture] with what I thought were crude tools," Mr. Campbell explains. Well, soon the two would
come together for him.

This combback Windsor Chair with carved knuckle arms invites you to have a seat. _____________________________

Less than a decade ago, Mr. Campbell saw his first 18th century chair -- a Windsor, of course -- in a little shop in Mt. Dora, Florida, while in pursuit of old tools. "There's something about a Windsor that draws you right to it," he says. Mr. Campbell explains his fascination, "There were signs of wear, legs worn down, looked fragile but still an intact piece. I couldn't see where any repairs had been done to it. When the guy told me it was probably about 200 years old, it just didn't sink in." The mystery of its strength piqued his interest. After a bit of research, Wayne Campbell started using the old hand tools, not just collecting them. And Windsors by Wayne began in his own living room.      Mr. Campbell was "getting nowhere fast as far as the amount of time it took to do one chair." So one year, as an anniversary present, his wife, Linda, sent him to a week-long chair making class in New Hampshire. Perhaps she had the ulterior motive of enjoying her living room without sawdust for seven days. Mr. Campbell learned many "tricks" at chair school that would actually cut the time needed to complete a time-intensive Windsor in half.

     How do you make a Windsor chair? "No secrets here; this technology is 250 years old," says the chairmaker. Simply defined, a Windsor chair has three parts; a back, legs and a seat that separates the two assemblies. The beauty is in the design. Each piece of wood and each line is carefully engineered to make this simple and delicate chair comfortable and durable.

Let's start with the seat. For comfort's sake, a soft wood is used, such as tulip poplar or white pine. The seat is "scooped out" after the general shape is cut with a band saw (Mr. Campbell's only concession to "modern tools"). Mr. Campbell removes up to an inch and a quarter of wood from his seats. Eighteenth century chairmakers did not remove as much, but our personal seats have increased over the centuries!      Further observation of the seat reveals a pommel. Think of a leather saddle. Its pommel is where the leather rises to make room for the horse's withers. It also helps the rider stay seated more comfortably, which is pretty much the pommel's purpose on the Windsor chair. Compare this saddle seat to a woven seat of a Shaker or ladderback chair. The woven material attaches to wooden bars to make the seat. It is less supportive than the Windsor seat. Sitting there long enough with your legs pressing into the front bar can cut off circulation. Mr. Campbell supposes the Shakers didn't sit down for long periods.

When Wayne scoops out the chair seat, the axe comes within inches of his feet, prompting his wife, to joke "I count his toes at night" ________________________________

      One last detail of the seat is a thin groove near the edge. This was actually a rain gutter. Early
Windsors were designed for outside use in England's gardens.
     Garden use also influenced the design of the Windsor's back. Made up of tapered spindles, the
back is punctuated with spaces that act as windows so the eye can see the surroundings through the
chair. The spindles are turned to a smooth, tapered shape. The tapered shape will give more
strength to the joint than a plain round design Maple, birch or oak are used to make the spindles.
These woods are harder than the poplar or birch seat.

     And since the hard wood turnings are socketed into the soft wood seat that separates the back
and legs, a stronger joint forms than if the woods were of similar hardness. In fact, each time the
chair is used, the joint strengthens as the wood fibres are compressed.
     What brings together a clunky thick seat, and delicate turnings all made of different woods of
different densities? Foremost is the element of line. In spite of its simplicity, the Windsor chair is full
of geometry - planes, lines, triangles, parallelograms and angles. Look at one of Mr. Campbell's
seat "patterns." It almost looks like a math text, full of site lines, dimensions and angles to direct his
construction. In fact, lines extended back from all points of a correctly designed Windsor should
converge at a vanishing point about 20 feet away. This element of design is why the strong thick
seat doesn't look clunky between the delicately turned legs and spindles. Mr. Campbell emphasizes
that if you disturb the line of a Windsor chair you lose perspective, balance and proportion.

Although Wayne often tells his son, Ben, that it's in the eye," measurements and teamwork help to insure steady chair legs. __________________________________

The final design element to unite all the different parts is the finish. Although the different woods are quite functional, the variety doesn't do much for looks. In keeping with tradition, Mr. Campbell's choice is paint. Indeed, the Windsor chair is designed to be painted. The preference for paint goes back to the 18th century here in Colonial America, which could be a pretty drab place. Colonists loved to use paint to finish furniture and brighten the place up. For an antique feel, Mr. Campbell prefers the qualities of milk paint. A popular choice is black with an undercoat of red.

     Mr. Campbell does offer a stained finish as well. He prefers to use annelin dye because it actually penetrates the wood instead of sitting on top like most stains which obscures the natural graining of wood.
    These are the secrets of making a classic Windsor chair. Its practical yet pleasing design has kept it popular since its beginnings in 16th century England. A brief quote of Edward Hazen from an
1836 edition of a Philadelphia publication gives a quick historical summary. "The Windsor chair
seems to have been first used for a rural seat in the grounds about Windsor castle, England; whence
its name. It was originally constructed of round wood, with the bark on; but the chair-makers soon
began to make them of turned wood, for the common purposes of house-keeping."

This practical chair and the craftsmen that could produce it soon crossed the Atlantic to the Colonies. Here, in the 18th century, it reached its height of popularity, becoming a successful Colonial export. The Windsor appealed to all classes, serving as a seat for laborers and statesmen alike. It remained popular until after the Civil War when chairs with cheap upholstery, plywood or machine woven cane seats were mass produced. After the Victorian period, when machines could help produce ornate furniture rapidly and cheaply, the

Ben Campbell has the patience and the eye for carving pieces such as this "knuckle arm." ____________________________

Windsor chair came back in vogue with the simpler Craftsmen style period of the early 1900's. The craft is as enduring as the chair is durable. Today, you can have a hand-built quality Windsor chair of your own thanks to the interest and talent of craftsmen like Wayne Campbell.
     Demand has reached the point where Mr. Campbell has hired an apprentice, Ben Campbell, his
son. Ben has found that he has a knack (and the patience) for carving. He is making his mark in the
carved knuckles and mortises and tenons for joints. Eventually, Ben will be a full-fledged chair
maker. Like his father, he has a love for old things and old ways and is drawn to the warmth and
character of wood. Linda Campbell lends a hand in finishing and marketing, though is turning the
latter over to Ben.
     Windsors by Wayne is actually just "an inexpensive hobby that has gotten out of control,"
according to Mr. Campbell. In 1998, the Campbells opened a shop and showroom in Fernandina
Beach. The demand for his chairs from others hasn't always been so high. In fact he was about to
close up shop when significant orders came in, first from Ponte Vedra and them from Susan and
Louis Goldman of Fernandina Beach.
     Like other Windsor clients, the Goldmans have a love of hand crafted art - the practical and the
less practical. Susan's Slightly Off Centre gallery is a reflection of this love where others can enjoy
and purchase creations of centuries old craftsmanship, from chairs to earrings. The Campbells are
grateful for the Goldman's appreciation of their craft. To further support it, Windsors by Wayne
(and son!) now has a showroom next door to Susan's. True to his tradesman nature, Mr. Campbell
crafted some beautiful counters and cabinets in Susan's gallery in exchange for the showroom
space. The chairmakers have a separate shop that better accommodates the growing business.
     Now that Wayne Campbell's hobby has expanded to this point, you can bet Linda Campbell is
thrilled he's moved his chairmaking out of the living room!

Have a seat! Test out a Windsor at Windsors by Wayne's showroom at 218-C Ash Street.
There¹s also a "test" chair at Susan¹s Slightly Off Centre, in the same building. Or surf for a
seat on the web at www.windsorsbywayne.com. (904) 491-0063.