The bread and butter of the Windsor trade in the 1790s was the bow-back, or pinched hoop, side chair. Introduced in Philadelphia in the mid-1780s, the new pattern was soon being made all over New England and the Mid-Atlantic. The design was suitable for use around a dining table and took up less room than the popular fan-back chairs. The Pinched Hoop features a modified New York style shield seat, as opposed to the Philadelphia's oval seat. Windsor chairs feature tapered joinery, weight on the seat of the chair causes the joints to strengthen not loosen as is the case in traditional tenon joinery. The strength and stability of the Windsor makes them a treasured American classic. As with all of our Windsors, each chair begins with locally milled green lumber. Every seat is hand-carved from Eastern White Pine. We do all of our turnings by hand on a lathe. Every spindle is rived and shaved on a shave horse to ensure the grain is left unbroken from end to end. This traditional process is repeated on the chair's back before steaming and bending. The legs are set using a traditional tapered lock joint which increases the chair's stability. Finally everything is wedged, hand sanded, and finished. (Please note that because each piece is handcrafted there may be slight variations between chairs, this adds to their historical accuracy and character.)