GUEST: When my parents bought their first home, my mother wanted to fill it with American... early American antiques. APPRAISER: And when was this? APPRAISER: And where, was it right here, in Spokane? GUEST: No, it was in Los Angeles. I wanted to know their value, because I want to insure them properly. My father always warned me that they were valuable, but that's all he ever said.No numbers or anything? APPRAISER: First of all, I love Windsor chairs. GUEST: I do, too. APPRAISER: Okay, you love them, too? GUEST: I have seven at home.Well, which one of these do you think is the better chair? GUEST: I don't know. APPRAISER: Which would you pick? GUEST: I would think this one's older. But I wouldn't know. GUEST: That's older, okay. But you don't have any idea of value comparison?Let me just quickly say, this is a lovely oval seat, probably New England. It has a pine seat-- you always look underneath here at the wood, and that looks like white pine.
It suggests it's New England because they used a lot of white pine there. Nice chair that has... that's a rocker. But it's not going to be that valuable, okay? APPRAISER: This little rocker could be insured for about $600, okay? If it had paint, it'd be more valuable. I'm going to slide this rocker back and-and come over to this one. It's a Rhode Island Windsor from about 1760 to 1770.And what's neat about Rhode Island Windsors is that there are a group of them with this profile-- do you see this curved profile? This is the crest rail, these usually hickory or ash-- because their bendable-- spindles come down to this little pillow on top of the seat rail. You see how it's echoed, this S-curve is also echoed here? Now the arms-- I'm going to tip it forward just a little bit. What kind of wood do you think that is? It's a light colored wood, very hard.It's a wood that they used a lot in Rhode Island. They used hard woods. Now, this seat kind of threw me off. It looks like it's chestnut.
But that makes sense for Rhode Island. And the wonderful seat with this-- let me just show you this. See that little flair? APPRAISER: Now, that was something that you see a lot on English chairs. That wonderful little flair that gives it that extra, extra curve. And this fits the bottom quite nicely, right? GUEST: Yes, it's very comfortable. APPRAISER: Very comfortable, right? And one of the really nice things about the chair is that the feet are original. These feet usually get cut off, they turn them into rocker chairs, like the other chair was turned into a rocker. I couldn't believe it. You know, I look very carefully to see because they're often replaced. You need to check that and that takes away about 80% of the value. But these feet are good. So it's a really, really nice chair. Now, there's one thing that it used to have that it doesn't have anymore. APPRAISER: It lost its paint. Almost every Windsor was painted. GUEST: Oh, I didn't know that. APPRAISER: If you look at the bottom-- do you see this-- has the original wash and then the white, the white paint.
So this is what stays. This is the... it's like the DNA that remains after they took away that surface, probably a hundred years ago. APPRAISER: Now, for insurance purposes, you could easily put this chair for about $16,000.Just for this chair. APPRAISER: So that's quite a difference. APPRAISER: That's a lot. GUEST: For a chair. APPRAISER: It is a lot for a chair, and it should be protected. Would you like to sit in it? APPRAISER: Have a seat. Do you mind if I sit in this APPRAISER: and I can look up at you. Now, if the white paint were still on there, APPRAISER: it would probably be, kind of on a bad day, $60,000. APPRAISER: Now, your mom didn't take the paint off, so you can't blame her. Jeff Trapp's inspiration to build Windsor chairs began in Maine, while he was learning boat building. of antique Windsor chairs, he bought a plan for a Windsor chair and endeavored to make similar chairs. Jeff's goal in creating each chair is beauty, comfort
Jeff works alone in his chairmaking shop in Madison, Wisconsin. He starts by harvesting trees from northern WisconsinJeff uses his collection of antique tools to handcraft each chair. Jeff rives (hand splits along the grain) chair parts for the legs, spindlesHe uses wedged-tapered sockets for leg-to-seat and armpost-to-seat joints which results in a highly durable construction. He assembles the chairs with the undercarriage in compression which means the stretchers are holding the legs out, not in to assure structural integrity even if the glue " What is it about Windsor chairs? probably something a little different for everyone. For me it's starts with traditions, the designs, methods, experiences and history. only found one place where I can improve on what the old timers did, andI don't believe you can improve on their designs, the tools they used, their finishes or how they secured and prepared materials. I start with the traditional ideas, shapes
and forms, I might think a leg is better at slightly different angle or withProportions might be improved by changing the back height or the angle of a stretcher. It might be more comfortable if I make the seat a little larger in front. But the feel, the sense of timeless shapes and lines stay the same. I don't try to make Windsors something they were never meant to be. I do nothing that takes away from the whole and leaves you with any other impression than a simple, nice looking, wellBeneath the looks are the woods, the joinery, the tools and assembly methods that have evolved over a long history. their statements with how they unify all the small simple parts of their chair, the pattern of the turnings, the angles of the legs, stretchers, armpost and back, the sense of proportion in the complete chair. A good chair doesn't overwhelm, it just looks and feels right." Jeff also offers one-on-one chairmaking instruction in his shop 4-5 times a year.