Wicker is a technique for making products woven from any one of a variety of pliable plant materials, a generic name for the materials used in such manufacture, and a term for the items so produced. The word wicker is believed to be of Scandinavian origin: vika, which means to bend in Swedish, and vikker meaning willow. Wicker is traditionally made of material of plant origin, such as willow, rattan, reed, and bamboo, but synthetic fibers are now also used. Wicker is light yet sturdy, making it suitable for items that will be moved often like porch and patio furniture. Rushwork and wickerwork are terms used in England. A typical braiding pattern is called Wiener Geflecht, Viennese Braiding, as it was invented in 18th century Vienna and later most prominently used with the Thonet coffeehouse chair.
History
Wicker has been documented as far back as ancient Egypt, made from indigenous "reed and swamp grasses." Middle-class families could only afford a few pieces, such as small tables. However, archaeologists working on the tombs of the wealthy pharaohs have uncovered a wider variety of wicker items, including "chests, baskets, wig boxes, and chairs". Wicker even found use in the Achaemenid Empire on the battlefield, in shields.
The popularity of wicker passed from ancient Egypt and Persia to ancient Rome. Wicker baskets were used to carry items in Pompeii. Furniture was manufactured out of wicker in the Roman style. It has been proposed that the extensive use of wicker in the Iron Age (1200 BC – 400 AD in Europe) may have influenced the development of the woven patterns used in Celtic art.[citation needed] By the 16th and 17th centuries, wicker was "quite common" in European countries like Portugal, Spain, and England.
Wicker received a boost during the Age of Exploration, when international sea traders returned from southeast Asia with a species of palm called rattan. Rattan is stronger than traditional European wicker materials, although the rattan stem can be separated so the softer inner core can be used for wicker.
The 19th century brought immense popularity for wicker in Europe, England, and North America. It was used outdoors as well as indoors. People in the Victorian Era believed it to be more sanitary than upholstered furniture. It was inexpensive, resisted harsh weather and was adaptable to many styles.
In the United States, Cyrus Wakefield began constructing rattan furniture in the 1850s. He first used rattan that had been offloaded from ships, where it was used as ballast, but as his designs became well-known, he began importing the material himself. Wakefield's company became one of the leading industries in wicker furniture; it later merged with the Heywood Chair Manufacturing Company (a wooden chair company that had invented a mechanical process for weaving wicker seats) to form the Heywood-Wakefield of Gardner, Massachusetts, one of the oldest and most prominent North American wicker manufacturers.
In recent times, its aesthetic was influenced heavily by the Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the 20th century.
Wicker is still a popular material. Antique wicker products are highly sought after by collectors. Reproductions of furniture and accent pieces are also sold for indoor and outdoor use. (In North America today, "rattan" and "wicker" are frequently used interchangeably.) Wickerwork is an important industry in Poland, employing hundreds of skilled workers to create goods for export to western Europe.
Manufacture
Natural wicker is well known for its strength and durability, as well as the high level of beauty and comfort that an expert craftsperson can create. Materials used can be any part of a plant, such as the cores of cane or rattan stalks, or whole thicknesses of plants, as with willow switches. Other popular materials include reed and bamboo. Natural wicker requires maintenance to keep it in good shape.
Wicker can also be made from synthetic materials, or a combination. In furniture, such as benches, chairs, stools and other seating devices, a frame is typically made of stiffer materials, after which more pliant material is woven into the frame to fill it. In a smaller piece such as a basket, a strengthening frame is not needed so the entire piece is woven from the wicker material.
Synthetic types include paper-wrapped high tensile wire (using the Lloyd Loom process patented in the early 20th century), and plastic or resin. The synthetic wickers are often preferred for outdoor use ("all-weather wicker"). The frame material used in these more recent versions includes aluminum.
The largest basket vase in the world is located in Germany.
Etymology
The word wicker is from the Middle English wiker, of Scandinavian origin.
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Wicker furniture styles were influenced greatly by the trends of the day. Mid-Victorian tastes were mirrored by Oriental style. The wicker artisans of the period produced fragile, exotic-looking pieces by hand; often with intricate fancywork.
From 1905 to 1915, the Mission-style wicker introduced by Gustav Stickley won public favor. The style, characterized by straight lines and open latticework, gave rise to the popularity of two related wicker designs: Cape Cod (with a tight weave) and Bar Harbor (with open latticework).
The Art Deco style of the `20s was characterized by fancywork of diamond patterns woven into backs of chairs and settees. The diamonds often were stained a darker color for visual impact.
What Is Wicker?
The word “wicker” refers to the “act of weaving with pliable fibers.” Wicker is not an actual weaving material. The materials used in wicker work include rattan reed, willow, paper fibre rush, cane, or grasses, and, most recently, plastic or resin strands.
“Wicker furniture” refers to the final woven product such as a table, chair, lamp, settee, buggy, or basket. Most antique wicker furniture is completely woven using either rattan reed or paper fibre rush on hardwood steam-bent frames. Wicker manufacturing companies either dyed, stained, or painted most pieces before they left the factory. Those that were dyed or stained also had a final clear coat finish of varnish or shellac for protection.
Chair caning is often confused with wicker work. Cane is yet another part of rattan—the bark, which has been processed into strips. It has a glossy finish and does not accept stain or paint. Caning is the craft of using these strips to weave seats and backs of wood frame furniture or to wrap joints of wicker furniture.
The most popular materials used in the construction of wicker furniture from 1880 to the 1940s were as follows.
Rattan is a climbing jungle vine, imported from Indonesia, China, Southeast Asia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Rattan poles 2 to 3 inches in diameter were often used for the framework of wicker furniture (but the more desirable product lines used hardwood frames). More often the rattan was split into flat strips called cane.
Reed is the inner pith of the rattan pole and is used in weaving. Reed has a lengthwise “grain” and will break if bent to extreme. It is a porous material that accepts stain, paint, varnish and lacquer.
Paper fibre rush is a man-made paper product invented in 1904 when China prevented the export of rattan reed. Paper rush resembles a twisted cord, comes in a continuous length, and can be unraveled. It is normally the color of a brown paper bag before staining or painting.
There are two noteworthy companies whose wicker furniture is now collectible.
In Boston in the 1850s, Cyrus Wakefield began constructing furniture from rattan. He first used rattan that had been offloaded from ships, where it was used as cargo packing material. But as his designs became well-known, he began importing the material himself.
The Wakefield Rattan Company became one of the leading manufacturers of wicker furniture. It later merged with the Heywood Chair Manufacturing Company (a wooden chair company) to form Heywood-Wakefield of Gardner, Mass., one of the oldest and most prominent North American wicker manufacturers.
The Lloyd Manufacturing Company started in 1906 in Menominee, Mich. Marshall Burns Lloyd manufactured wicker strollers and prams. Slow and expensive to produce, the rattan would occasionally break and was not a soft and comfortable material. Marshall wanted to create a weave that was stronger than rattan, looked better, and had a softer feel to it.
In 1917, after many experiments, he had a solution. Lloyd Loom paper fibre “fabric” was made of spaghetti-like strands of paper rush, closely woven on a loom to resemble fabric. The fabric was then draped over a frame and attached with tacks covered with a braid. In later years, a wire core was added to the strand, making it usable in weight-bearing areas of the piece.
Strong yet flexible, Lloyd recognized the possibilities of his invention for furniture production.
Lloyd Loom chairs quickly became very popular in the U.S., and, in 1921, Lloyd sold full patent rights to an English manufacturer, W Lusty & Sons, who used the Lloyd Loom fabric to create a collection of typical English utility furniture that was durable and affordable. Lusty’s and Lloyd’s would never be in direct competition with each other; instead, they nurtured a friendly and mutually productive association in which development of ideas and design for their furniture would be shared. At the height of its popularity, in the 1930s, Lusty Lloyd Loom furniture could be found in hotels, restaurants, as well cruise ships.
By the late ‘20s, although the Heywood-Wakefield Company, too, was making paper fibre furniture, it was the last major firm in America still weaving wicker furniture by hand. In the 1930s, the company stopped wicker furniture production altogether.
Under the company name of Lloyd Flanders, Lloyd Loom furniture continues to be made in Menominee, Mich., today. Also, Lloyd Loom (UK) Ltd offers original Lloyd Loom furniture to clients throughout the UK.