Here we have a chair which at one time was very familiar, but these days seems to have faded from fashion, like most chairs with hard wooden seats, for today comfort is the watchword, and even with a cushion, it is hardly a place to lounge long-term, when you could sink into a sofa.
There is a theory, and it is repeated on our card, that the "Windsor" part of the name either refers to them having been "made near Windsor, where elm trees flourished" or that they were "ordered by George I, for use at Windsor Castle".
In fact we know that this style of chair, with a solid wooden seat into which the back and legs are plunged, were around in Ancient Egypt.
We also know that most of the British ones seem to have been made not in Windsor, but in Buckinghamshire, with High Wycombe cornering the market, long before George I was even born. However it seems to be true that many of the High Wycombe chairs were sent down to Windsor market to be sold, and this is how they got their name.
There is something odd about this card, because I am not sure it is a Windsor chair at all. You see traditionally the back spindles of the Windsor chair start at the base and slant to the head bar, like a fan, and none at all are straight, whereas our chair only has straight spindles. Not just that, but the wide centre bar is also not a feature commonly seen on a Windsor chair. But after research I found that in the time of George I and George II that central spline was part of the design, and the spindles did indeed rise straight to the top bar. So I have learned something tonight !
This set, and its younger sibling, were first catalogued in our Wills reference book part IV, as
OLD FURNITURE. Large cards, size 79 x 62 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in grey. With descriptive text. Home issues.
- 278. “1st Series of 25”. Issued 1923
- 279. “2nd Series of 25”. Issued 1924
Series one had rather a short run, being issued in October, with Series 2 arriving in February, just four months later.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index describes the pair as :
- OLD FURNITURE. Lg. Nd. … W62-161
1. “1st Series of 25”.
2. “2nd Series of 25”.
It is further shortened in our updated version, which combines the two series on to a single line. And the code is changed, to W675-202