SOUTH WOODBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – In this South Woodbury workshop, “Windsor” is the word.
“The way we build chairs, they’re going to outlast us,” said George Sawyer, who knows a thing or two about chairmaking. “My dad was a Windsor chairmaker. His shop was attached to the house. Grew up in the shop and kind of absorbed it, didn’t think much about it until well after college.”
His dad was a well-known Windsor chairmaker in central Vermont, creating and teaching for some 30 years. Despite his father’s footprint, college brought Sawyer to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied industrial design. And that’s what he pursued post-grad for a number of years.
“And then my dad decided to retire, and realized that was my last opportunity to learn the craft from him,” Sawyer said. “Turned out, it was fun.”
After learning the tricks of the trade from his father, Sawyer founded Sawyer Made. For the past 10 years, the company has brought modern ideas to a centuries-old craft. If you’ve never seen one, Windsor chairs boast an inherently distinct design.
“Generally, has a solid seat and the legs stop at the seat and the back stops at the seat,” Sawyer explained. “Everything is referenced off the seat plane.”
However, Sawyer Made offers a different take on the otherwise traditional chair. “When these were being made in small shops 200 years ago, everybody was doing whatever they wanted. If you look at historic examples, every single one is different,” Sawyer said.
He does a lot of the crafting himself, beginning with locally sourced green wood. He says most of it comes within 50 miles or so. Beginning with green wood is key because it allows the crafters full control of the logs, and therefore, the direction of the grain. Working with the direction of the grain allows for a more flexible and sturdy seat. “Splitting out pieces, steam-bending them, shaping them by hand,” Sawyer said. He says chairmaking is both a science and an art, explaining the precise measurements required for each piece. They are all hand-carved and require a trained eye.
While Sawyer is the seating specialist, he’s eager to share his knowledge. A small team works under him, working to perfect the craft as he has. Together, they make chairs that can be found across the country, from galleries in San Francisco to masterpieces by Manhattan interior designers. Their reach is something he credits to his partner, Erin Smith. ”She really took the small, one-man shop and turned it into a business,” he said.
No matter where the chairs go, Sawyer is passionate about his craft. “It’s different every day,” he said. “Meet and talk to a lot of great people, get to work with my hands every day.”
And, he says it means a lot to carry on his father’s legacy.