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The Book of American Windsor Furniture: Styles and Technologies
Current price:
$60.00
Publication Date: October 9th, 1998
Publisher:
University of Massachusetts Press
ISBN:
9781558491373
Pages:
208
Description
When John Kassay published The Book of Shaker Furniture in 1980, it was universally praised for its exquisitely rendered and finely detailed drawings of Shaker furniture. In the intervening years, Kassay has turned his attention to Windsor furniture and has now produced an elegant and informative guide to the Windsor style.
Combining comfort, simplicity, and craftsmanship, Windsor chairs have long been prized by collectors. Introduced from England in the early 1700s, the Windsor style took hold in America first as seating for the well-to-do and later as the favorite chair of the general population. Included in the Windsor family are stools, tables, settees, high chairs, cradles, and candle stands, but the greatest variety is found in the chairs, which range from comb-back to bow-back to step-down versions. Their makers took advantage of the natural properties of different woods for particular components of the chairs, employing hickory, red oak, or ash for bent parts, maple for turnings, and pine for seats.
Kassay meticulously documents all of these features and styles with drawings so accurate and precise that amateur furniture makers can use them as blueprints for creating Windsor reproductions. The drawings are complemented by narrative descriptions, photographs, and a list of measured parts for each of the pieces under discussion.
Praise for The Book of American Windsor Furniture: Styles and Technologies
"This is both a connoisseur's book and a cabinetmaker's book, giving the buyer the choice of collecting a Windsor or cobbling one together in the basement."—The Magazine Antiques
"Throughout his long career as a teacher, John Kassay helped innumerable students learn the joys and challenges of furniture making and appreciation. First with the publication of The Book of Shaker Furniture and now with The Book of American Windsor Furniture, he has broadened his reach beyond the classroom. As with his first volume, The Book of American Windsor Furniture is lavishly illustrated with precisely drawn depictions of some of the best examples of American Windsor furniture. In addition, clear illustrative photographs and concise narrative descriptions make this book a valuable introduction to the Windsor style. The Book of American Windsor Furniture will surely find an easily reached and well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of material cultural historians, antiquarians, as well as furniture makers."—Robert Treanor
