The
desire to bring light and air into homes has resulted in
a progression from the small casement windows of the First
Period, to the more elaborate multi-lite window sash of
the 18th and 19th centuries, and finally to the large uninterrupted
glass panes installed in many new houses. As windows have
grown larger, exterior and interior shutters and blinds
have been used to provide privacy and security, prevent
light damage to interior furnishings and finishes and regulate
interior temperature and glare. The history of shutters
and blinds illustrates their utility, versatility and appeal.
The terms shutter and blind both refer
to hinged window coverings. Strictly speaking, a shutter
is a hinged board or panel construction, while a blind has
fixed or movable louvers. In general parlance, though, the
distinction has blurred, and today the word shutter encompasses
both types of covering.
Exterior Subtypes
Exterior shutters and blinds have been used from the 17th
century to the present. Heavy single-board and board-and-batten
shutter styles, which could be bolted and barred, were typical
until the mid-18th century, when lighter, paneled shutters
and louvered blinds became common. While shutters were usually
paired on either side of the window, occasionally one shutter
spanning the entire opening would be hung to one side.
Shutter subtypes proliferated through
the 18th and 19th centuries, including bi-fold versions
and “Dutch” shutters that split horizontally,
so that the top half could be opened for light and air while
the bottom was closed for security. More common in hot climates,
awning blinds were hinged at the top of the window for maximum
shade and air circulation. Exterior shutters were traditionally
painted either black or dark green until the mid-19th century.
The latter part of that century saw a transition to bolder
colors and more elaborate custom designs, such as the pointed
shutters made to shield Gothic Revival windows. Exterior
shutters were attached with a variety of hardware, including
strap hinges on pintels, locking mortise hinges and even
wide-swinging H- or HL shaped hinges. An assortment of latches
were used to close exterior shutters, but the most common
devices to hold them open were shutter dogs, metal fasteners
that turn on a lag screw or drive nail attached to the window
sill or sidewall. A range of shutter dog styles were employed,
from stars to darts to S-shaped hardware.
The functional use of exterior shutters
declined late in the 19th century, as the combination of
interior window coverings and exterior storm windows proved
more convenient and effective. Although no longer central
to the working life of houses, shutters remain popular decorative
elements, framing window openings and providing depth and
texture. Now that exterior shutters are almost always left
open, they have transcended their original use and meaning
to become a charming and welcoming detail. Even in the absence
of surviving exterior shutters, windows, frames and sills
often retain signs of shutters past, such as holes that
once held hardware, built-up paint outlining patterns of
shutters or hardware or surviving pieces of the hardware
itself. By using these physical signs and historic photographs,
missing exterior shutters can be replaced with great accuracy,
restoring the grace that the shutters once brought to a
façade. Today’s owners are savvy about the
nuances of installation, pattern and material as they seek
to reproduce the effect of historic shutters. Even if the
shutters will never be closed, there is an increasing appreciation
for the historic and visual authenticity of solid-wood shutters
that are appropriately sized for the inside of the window
opening, and hung on operable, correctly placed hardware.
Manufacturers of period and reproduction
shutters and shutter hardware can attest to the expanding
market for shutters as historically-appropriate details.
“While there is a great trend toward using functional,
wood shutters in new construction,” says Rick Skidmore,
president and founder of North Wales, PA-based Timberlane, manufacturer of hand-crafted custom shutters,
“renovation and restoration continue to be huge, booming
areas for Timberlane.” Because of the great variation
in regional types through time, Timberlane offers a full
range of shutter styles and hardware that are based on regional
examples. “In New England, louvers were wider than
in other areas; in Center City Philadelphia, you saw ladder-style
everywhere and then there was the difference between urban
and rural versions, with more ornate shutters in the cities,”
he says. There is a portion of the market that notices these
differences and seeks the most accurate designs, he adds.
“There has also been a lot of interest in custom shutters
to fill special window shapes, pointed arches and ‘tombstone’-shaped
windows.” Like all of the manufacturers, Timberlane
“intends that the shutters will last a lifetime,”
and uses traditional mortise-and-tenon construction to create
solid-wood exterior and interior shutters.
Authentic Interiors
Interior shutters, a convenient alternative to exterior
shutters, were extremely popular from the 17th through the
early-20th century. In their earliest form, they were used
to keep out wind and rain in lieu of expensive glass windows.
The most common early type consisted of a single panel that
slid on a track running across the bottom of the window
and the surface of the wall. This model was gradually refined,
with single or paired shutters that could be slid out of
sight into pockets in the wall. The most elaborate featured
a second track halfway up the length of the window, so that
a total of four panels could be adjusted as needed. While
pocket shutters came to be called “Indian” shutters
in the 19th century, their widespread use actually began
well after settlers’ conflicts with native populations
subsided.
During the 18th century, fashions changed
and interior walls were brought further into rooms to cover
exposed timber-framing members, creating deep recesses around
window openings. The thick walls of masonry houses also
had this kind of recess. Folding, paneled interior shutters
were made to occupy this space, called the embrasure, as
both functional and beautiful elements of the interior woodwork.
These “boxed” shutters folded seamlessly into
shallow pockets in the wall, creating a paneled surround
at each window.
From the late-18th century through the
end of the 19th century, louvered interior blinds were very
fashionable window treatments. Those with narrower slats
were available in the same configurations as paneled shutters,
such as the Dutch and bi-fold styles. One creative type
had multiple panels that slid vertically, held in place
by pegs or clips to cover the window, or concealed behind
window seats when completely open.
Historically, the term Venetian blinds
was applied to any number of interior and exterior treatments,
but it now connotes any louvered interior blind with movable,
wide wooden slats, either set in a frame or suspended on
cloth tapes from the top of the window. Venetian blinds
were prized because they could fan out to fill the semi-circular
shapes of fanlights or Palladian windows. Early versions
often had clear finishes to expose the wood graining, but
they soon began to be painted dark green or black like their
exterior counterparts.
Wooden interior shutters and blinds fell
out of favor through the 20th century, as cheaper metal
mini-blinds and other treatments became available. As has
been the case with exterior shutters, however, there has
been a resurgence of interest in authentic interior shutters,
and the beauty and utility they impart. For those who are
not fortunate enough to have surviving historic interior
shutters, a range of accurate period-style shutters are
available.
While all of these exterior and interior
window coverings are fundamentally simple in concept, for
centuries they were essential to maintaining a comfortable
household. Today, they evoke a time when striking the balance
between shelter and nature was a manual, circadian ritual.
Though their role has changed, they retain their significance,
both as examples of changing tastes and technologies, and
as beautiful architectural details.
