Woodworking in Windsor.

Regional studies in American decorative arts, particularly in the field of furniture, are not new, but recently scholars have begun to interpret period documents in more innovative ways. By looking very closely at surviving pieces of furniture they are able to see features connecting makers (and their extended families) and objects and thereby make attributions to specific workshops. Such is the case with a small exhibition and its accompanying catalogue written by Joshua W. Lane and Donald P. White III. The exhibition was originally on view at Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and may be seen at the Windsor Historical Society in Connecticut until August 14. The show is entitled The Woodworkers of Windsor: A Community of Craftsmen, 1635-1715, and includes about one dozen pieces.

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As incredible as it may seem, between 1635 and 1715 more than two hundred woodworkers were active in Windsor, Connecticut, constructing everything from houses to barrels, wheels, and chests. In fact, a group of twenty-six English woodworkers were among those who established the town in 1635. As these Englishmen were instrumental in church affairs and local government, they became powerful in the town. They had left England in search of economic opportunities, which they certainly found, since by 1641 woodworkers commanded such high wages that the Connecticut legislature put a ceiling of twenty pence per day on their income. The power of the transplanted Englishmen increased over the years as their sons and daughters married into other woodworking families. These intermarriages introduced different methods of furniture construction to woodworkers whose in-laws may have come from an entirely different region of England. However, the next generation was faced with difficulties in bettering their financial situation: they could move to a town with ...