Not content to hang the old chairmaker’s tools he collected on the wall, Michael Dunbar became one of the few contemporary craftsmen in the country producing Windsor chairs completely by hand, using the eighteenth century method and original tools. His chair shop at Strawbery Banke, the early American museum which is a preservation of historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is open to the public.
Besides being an accomplished chairmaker, Michael Dunbar is a specialist in antiques, furniture care, and related subjects in American history. He signs the name John Redfield to his articles on antiques in national magazines, and has done news writing at the Greenfield, Massachusetts Recorder and edited the Worcester News Recorder. A native of Massachusetts, Dunbar received his B.A. summa cum laude at Worcester State College, and has also attended Brigham Young University and the University of Rennes, France.
Mr. Dunbar is the author of Windsor Chairmaking, also published by Hastings House.
(From the back flap of his book *Antique Woodworking Tools*)
