Windsor Chairs

Peter Adams Bespoke Windsor Chairs
and Jesse – The Miniature Windsor Chir

My hand made Windsor Chairs feature seats and splats made from selected Elm, a timber that has been difficult to source, since the Dutch Elm Disease decimated the Elm trees in Europe and the United Kingdom. 

The Elm used in my chairs was harvested from 140 year old trees in Mount Wilson, NSW. These trees were knocked down in a 2010 storm. The seats blanks are shaped using a chair makers scorp and traditional chairmaking methods. 

The bows are made from selected European Ash or Beech (because of their straight grain and strength) and then steam bent at my workshop. The legs and spindles are made from various timbers, such as Tasmanian Myrtle – which is a wonderful timber to work with on the lathe – or local Blue Mountains Ash. There are two options for the design of the arm post. 

Curved arm posts (as illustrated in these pictures) take longer to shape and fit, and this has to be reflected in the final cost of the chair. The alternative is the more standard, simpler to install turned armposts. 

My chairs can be finished in a natural timber colour but, because the variety of timbers used in the construction, the finished chair would result in a variety of different tones – this is the reason why the majority of older Windsor chairs are stained to a darker hue: to even out the timber colours. 

My signature chairs are French polished and waxed, while the legs, stretchers, spindles and bows are stained black and polished. And these half-sized Windsor chairs that are destined to become future ‘family heirlooms’. Furthermore, as every chair is individually made to fit each new owner, every chair is named on a brass plaque on the underside. The chair illustrated is named ‘Claire’, while the miniature chair is ‘Jessie’.

In the 1800s, the original Windsor chairs were made by hand, using rudimentary tools and without access to mechanical power. Pole Lathes were used to make the legs, these were powered by lengths of cord wrapped around the turning, with one end attached to a bendy sapling and the other to a foot pedal below!

 The fact that these chairs have remained popular for 200 years, is a testimony to their design, construction, strength and comfort.