Thread: Making an English Comb-back Windsor Chair

My inspiration for this Windsor chair derives from a unique style of comb-back chair produced in the Thames Valley region of South East England from around 1730 through to roughly 1800. The chairs from this area all share very distinct characteristics; the seats exhibit the same 'D' or bell shape (with a typical straight front edge) and all four legs are of a bold turned baluster pattern united by bulbous turned 'H' stretchers.

Where present, arms are broad with horizontally-scrolled terminals, supported on turned front posts. Comb-back crest rails are either plain or gently shaped and are raised on an even number of back sticks – usually eight.


Thames Valley comb-back elbow chair, c.1780. Front view.


Thames Valley comb-back elbow chair, c.1780. Side view.

The arms of these chairs are made of three separate pieces of wood which are lap jointed to form a continuous arc; the joints of some chairs span two back sticks, while others intersect a single back stick. The addition of steel screws, inserted from beneath, contribute to a strong, rigid arm.

The chair below possesses the same leg profile, three-part flat scrolled arm and eight back sticks as other chairs of the genre, and has a shaped crest rail, but is unusual in having sawn crescent arm supports and a radically shaped seat.


Thames Valley comb-back elbow chair, c.1780. Image Michael Harding-Hill.

This side chair exhibits an even number of back sticks (four), but has the unusual addition of three brace sticks.


Thames Valley comb-back side chair, c.1760.

The arm of the elbow chair below (formerly in the Parker Knoll collection which I had the opportunity to inspect on several occasions while in mothballs at, the then, private house, Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset) with its shaped crest, is still of three-part construction. The legs and seat shape conform to the genre.


Mid 18th century Thames Valley stick-back elbow chair. Image Michael Harding-Hill.

I don't have a steam box any longer and I don't really have the room or inclination to possess another, so one of the main attractions of this style of chair, for me, is that it has no bent components; both the crest rail and the three-part arm are cut from the solid.

The seats are typically of Elm with the grain running from side-to-side on elbow chairs and front-to-back on side chairs. The legs and sticks are normally Ash and the arms and crest rails can be Ash, Elm, Fruitwood or Walnut.


My chair

I cut a piece from a really nice 380cm x 74cm x 5.5cm (12.5ft x 29in x 2-1/8in) Elm board that's been air drying for four years, so that's the seat catered for.


That's a 56cm (22in) long No. 7 jointer sitting on that lump of Elm.

I have a fairly large quantity of European Ash, so the legs, stretchers, sticks and crest rail will all be of Ash. I also have a stack of English Walnut, so while I'm tempted to use some for the arm and arm posts, I have yet to convince myself it is the right choice.