History of Windsor chairs in Quebec
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- History of Windsor chairs in Quebec
Samuel Park has been identified as the first Windsor chairmaker in Quebec. It seems that he apprenticed in New England. Upon his death, Benjamin Whitney bought half of Park's business and picked up on the chairmaking business.
Whitney, also a New England native, was a member of the St-Gabriel Prespbyterian Church, located in the southwest corner of the contemporary Champ de Mars in Montreal.
Thomas Read, a New Englander, was Montreal's third identified Windsor chairmaker. He apprenticed in Boston before setting up shop in Montreal.
At about the same time, Henry Corse offered his services as ornamental painter. In 1806, he offered high quality painted seating. He advertised "japann'd, gilt, cane bottomed drawing room chairs; japann'd gilt and painted bamboo chairs and sofas; [and] dining [Windsor] chairs of every description".
Samuel Frost, the fourth identified maker, had been in business since 1811 when he decided to get into the chair business. Recognizing the potential profit to be made in the manufacturing and selling of painted seating in the rising business community, advertised: "Spring Back, Windsor, Children's and other CHAIRS". The term "Spring Back" generally implied chairs with bent backs. In another advertisement, Frost further described his seating as "Rush bottomed, Fancy, Bamboo and Windsor Chairs".
In 1825, J.Andrews offered "a Fashionable Variety of FANCY RUSH SEATED, & WINDSOR CHAIRS". It seems that Andrews offered lower prices than his competitors because he advertised as manufacturing them on premises, which hints that much stock available elsewhere was not produced locally.
N. Bethune and W. H. Kittson transformed the industry by moving their production from a small workshop to a mass production factory in 1830, in sync with the decline of the Windsor style.
Owen McGarvey's business, located on Notre-Dame street, was one of Montreal's biggest purveyor of furniture in the second half of the XIX century. He offered, among other furniture, all sorts of Windsor seating.
Following in Samuel Park's footsteps, Montreal's first Windsor chair craftsman in 1797, the Windsor style is back in Quebec after 200 years. Jean-François Théorêt offers a variety of high quality handcrafted Windsor seating, covering a broad spectrum of styles and sizes.