A Farmhouse Windsor armchair, with ‘tulip’ fretted splat in beech with elm seat and swept, scroll over arms. High Wycombe c1890seat height 44 cmsWhy do I call this style of chair a ‘Windsor chair’ ?  I wrote a paper in support of my exhibition of Thames Valley Windsor chairs in 1998 in which I identified that the term ''Windsor chair'' had evolved in its use, to describe wooden chairs whose axis of construction is the seat, ie where the legs are jointed up into the underside of the seat board and the superstucture is jointed into the top surface of the seat board.  This description was endorsed in Mike Harding-Hill''s excellent 2003 published book ''Windsor Chairs'' (Antique Collectors'' Club).When I first started buying chairs in 1979, the term ‘Windsor chair’ was used within the antiques trade, to describe exclusively, hoop back and comb back armchairs and side chairs. 19th century chairs such as ‘Oxford’ style chairs and ‘slat and splat back chairs’ with a deep top...