Rod-Back Side Chairs

The most stylish form of this chair is known as a bird cage windsor. Alternate back spindles of the chair pass through a second “rod” giving the allusion of a birdcage. The under-carriage, spindles, stiles and arm posts are turned on the lathe in the bamboo style (influenced by America’s involvement in the China trade). The stretchers are “boxed” instead of the “H” pattern characteristic of earlier windsors. The bamboo style parts of many rod-back windsors are indicative of the chairs made in the early 19th century: they were adopted for their ease of duplication necessitated by the industrial revolution.

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