This Amish Windsor Coffee Table is known for being made of 100% wood, no particle
board or laminate is used, and there is great attention paid to the details of the wood
in the furniture making process. Each piece of wood is hand selected to match the
specific furniture in mind. Attention is paid to the grain of the wood, both in gluing
pieces together, and in achieving the desired look of the finished piece. Amish
furniture is also valued for its sustainability. The Amish woodworkers pride themselves
in their work, and view their product as both a piece of art, and a furnishing to be
used and lived in for generations.
46Wx22Hx26.5D
Traditional Amish Styling
Raised Panel Sides
Shelf
Mortise and Tenon Construction
CAN BE CUSTOMIZED TO FIT
Amish furniture first gained attention in the 1920’s when early American folk art was “discovered” and dealers and historians placed great value upon
the beauty and quality of the pieces. Many different styles of Amish furniture emerged.
The Jonestown School began in the late 18th century in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The
Jonestown School is most widely known for painted blanket chests decorated with flowers
on three panels. Examples of these chests are on display at both the
Smithsonian Museum and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Another distinctive style of Amish furniture is the Soap Hollow School, developed in
Soap Hallow, Pennsylvania. These pieces are often brightly painted in red, gold, and
black.
Henry Lapp was a furniture maker based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and it is
his designs that most closely resemble the furniture we think of today as Amish made. He
was one of the first to abandon the painted, Germanic-style influence in his furniture,
and opted for an undecorated, plain style, following more the styles of Welsh furniture
making of the time. The order book he offered to his customers contained watercolor
paintings of his pieces, and is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The record price
for American folk-painted furniture was sold at Sotheby’s in 1986. It was a tall case
clock made in 1801 by Johannes Spitler that sold for $203,500.