Woodworkers of Windsor

The Woodworkers of Windsor by Joshua W. Lane and Donald P. White III is a 68 page exhibition catalog, which is illustrated with black and white photographs. The exhibitions took place at the Flynt Center for Early New England Life, Historic Deerfield on April 25, 2003 – August 18, 2003 and the Windsor Historical Society on September 18, 2003 – April 15, 2004.It looks at the distinctive styles and techniques brought by joiners from England to the town of Windsor’s early furniture. Each of the sections focuses on a particular design or decoration style and on a single woodworker or family known for their expertise in that style. Included are investigations into the works of Deacon John Moore, Aaron Cook, Thomas Barber Sr. and Jr., John Rockwell, William Buell, John Drake Sr., and Drake’s three sons, Jacob, John Jr., and Job Drake.

From the foreword: This book is a surprising accomplishment drawn from the authors’ abilities to plumb with equal insight the fabric of this single town’s surviving early furniture and the written record to collate these old chests, chairs, boxes, and tables into identifiable shop traditions and to theorize with validity about why they look the way they do. The result is a fresh look at “old chestnuts” that we expect will reinvigorate our methodology for studying the material culture history of New England’s first century.