Wicker

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A wicker basket filled with apples Apples in basket 2018 G1.jpg
A wicker basket filled with apples

Wicker is a method of weaving used to make products such as furniture and baskets, as well as a descriptor to classify such products. It is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. Wicker was first documented in ancient Egypt, then having been made from pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. The word wicker or "wisker" is believed to be of Scandinavian origin: vika, which means "to fold" in Swedish. [1] Wicker is traditionally made of material of plant origin, such as willow, rattan, reed, and bamboo, though the term also applies to products woven from synthetic fibers. Wicker is light yet sturdy, making it suitable for items that will be moved often like porch and patio furniture. [2] Rushwork and wickerwork are terms used in England. [3] 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.

Contents

History

Wicker basket, Egypt, New Kingdom, c. 1492-1473 BC Large Oval Storage Basket MET 36.3.57a-b EGDP011891.jpg
Wicker basket, Egypt, New Kingdom, c. 1492–1473 BC

Wicker has been documented as far back as ancient Egypt, made from indigenous "reed and swamp grasses." [4] Middle-class families could only afford a few pieces, such as small tables. [5] However, archaeologists working on the tombs of the wealthy pharaohs have uncovered a wider variety of wicker items, [6] including "chests, baskets, wig boxes, and chairs". [4] Wicker even found use in the Achaemenid Empire on the battlefield, in shields. [7]

The popularity of wicker passed from ancient Egypt and Persia to ancient Rome. Wicker baskets were used to carry items in Pompeii. [8] Furniture was manufactured out of wicker in the Roman style. [4] 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" [4] in European countries like Portugal, Spain, and England.

Rattan wicker basket, 1883 Portable basket for tea utensils, by Hayakawa Shokosai I, Japan, Osaka, 1883 - Asian Art Museum of San Francisco - DSC01496.JPG
Rattan wicker basket, 1883

Wicker received a boost during the Age of Exploration, when international sea traders returned from Philippines with a species of palm called rattan. Rattan is stronger than traditional European wicker materials, [6] 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. [4] It was used outdoors as well as indoors. People in the Victorian Era believed it to be more sanitary than upholstered furniture. [4] It was inexpensive, [9] resisted harsh weather and was adaptable to many styles. [9]

Willow wicker armchair, c. 1907-13 Armchair MET DP216214.jpg
Willow wicker armchair, c. 1907–13

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, [6] but as his designs became well-known, he began importing the material himself. [4] Wakefield's company became one of the leading industries in wicker furniture; [4] it later merged with the Heywood Chair Manufacturing Company (a wooden chair company [10] that had invented a mechanical process for weaving wicker seats [4] ) to form the Heywood-Wakefield, one of the oldest and most prominent North American wicker manufacturers. [4]

In recent times, its aesthetic was influenced heavily by the Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the 20th century.[ citation needed ]

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. [2] (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. [11]

Laundry baskets have been and are popular in Europe.

Manufacture

Handmaking a traditional wicker beehive with straw Making-skep-beehive.jpg
Handmaking a traditional wicker beehive with straw

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.[ citation needed ]

Natural wicker weave Texture P7150078.JPG
Natural wicker weave
Resin wicker weave Resin Wicker.jpg
Resin wicker weave

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. [12] In a smaller piece such as a basket, a strengthening frame is not needed so the entire piece is woven from the wicker material. [13]

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. [2]

The largest basket vase in the world is located in Germany. [14]

Etymology

The word wicker is from the Middle English wiker, meaning 'willow, of Scandinavian origin. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rattan</span> Material (vegetable source)

Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of Southeast Asia, though they can also be found in other parts of tropical Asia and Africa. Most rattan palms are ecologically considered lianas due to their climbing habits, unlike other palm species. A few species also have tree-like or shrub-like habits.

Underwater basket weaving is an idiom referring pejoratively to supposedly useless or absurd college or university courses and often generally to refer to a perceived decline in educational standards.

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A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave and twill weave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basket</span> Container woven of stiff fibres

A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers, and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair, baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are generally woven by hand. Some baskets are fitted with a lid, while others are left open on top.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caning (furniture)</span> Craft of weaving seats for chairs

In the context of furniture, caning is a method of weaving chair seats and other furniture, either while building new chairs or in the process of cane chair repair.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punnet</span> Small box or square basket for fruits and vegetables

A punnet is a small box or square basket for the gathering, transport and sale of fruit and vegetables, typically for small berries susceptible to bruising, spoiling and squashing that are therefore best kept in small rigid containers. Punnets serve also as a rough measure for a quantity of irregular sized fruits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basket weaving</span> Weaving of pliable materials to make three-dimensional artifacts

Basket weaving is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets may be known as basket makers and basket weavers. Basket weaving is also a rural craft.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osier pattern</span>

In tableware the Osier pattern is a moulded basket-weave pattern in delicate relief used round the borders of porcelain plates and other pieces of flatware. It originated in Germany in the 1730s on Meissen porcelain, and was later often imitated by other producers. It is presumed to have been devised by Johann Joachim Kaendler, the celebrated head modeller at Meissen. The name comes from Salix viminalis, or the common osier, a Eurasian species of willow, whose thin, flexible, shoots or withies were and are much used for various types of wickerwork, usually encouraged by coppicing the plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Dart</span> Cherokee basket weaver from Oklahoma

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<i>Calamus rotang</i> Species of palm

Calamus rotang, also known as common rattan, is a plant species native to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma). It is one of the scandent (climbing) rattan palms used to make Malacca cane furniture, baskets, walking-sticks, umbrellas, tables and general wickerwork, and is found in Southwest Asia. The basal section of the plant grows vertically for 10 metres or so, after which the slender, tough stem of a few centimetres in diameter, grows horizontally for 200 metres or more. It is extremely flexible and uniform in thickness, and frequently has sheaths and petioles armed with backward-facing spines which enable it to scramble over other plants. It has pinnate, alternate leaves, 60–80 cm long, armed with two rows of spines on the upper face.

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The Wakefield Rattan Company was the world's leading manufacturer of rattan furniture and objects in the second half of the 19th century. Founded by Cyrus Wakefield in 1851 in South Reading, Massachusetts, it perfected machinery for working with rattan, developing looms for weaving chair seats and mats. Its products also included wicker furniture and baby carriages. The company also successfully found uses for previously wasted portions of the plant, using shavings to create baling fabric and floor coverings. Its products were available throughout the United States.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden Egg chair</span>

The Garden Egg chair was designed by Peter Ghyczy in 1968. It was manufactured by Reuter Products. The chair was designed for both indoor and outdoor use, although as a design icon and collectable it is rarely used outdoors. The chair lid lifts and closes, and when closed is theoretically waterproof. The Egg chair was re-introduced in 2001 by Ghyczy Novo. The Garden Egg Chair is known by several names; “seftenberger ei, pod chair, l’œuf en garden(egg)chair.” Elastogran/Reuter produced the plastic polyurethane. Ghyczy's job was to start a design centre in order to show industrial customers polyurethane's potential. The Garden Egg Chair is one of the first chairs made with polyurethane. For a long time, the chair was produced by the East German company VEB-Synthese-Werk, but since 1998, it has been produced in the Netherlands.

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Bamboo weaving is a form of bambooworking and a traditional craft of Taiwan.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wicker", The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth ed.), Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009, retrieved 2012-05-19
  2. 1 2 3 "Wicker". Alfresia. Manchester: Vale Mill (Rochdale) Ltd. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  3. ↑ Seymour, John (1984). The Forgotten Arts A practical guide to traditional skills. Angus & Robertson Publishers. p. 54. ISBN   0-207-15007-9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "From Egypt to the American Patio: The History of Wicker Furniture". Random History. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Kremen, Lisa (29 April 1997). "Ancient Egyptian Social Life: Professions". Archived from the original on May 27, 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Saunders, Richard (1990). Wicker Furniture: A Guide to Restoring and Collecting. Random House, Inc.
  7. ↑ Herodotus. "The History of Herodotus".
  8. ↑ Willey, David (18 July 2005). "Rare Pompeii dinner set unveiled". Rome: BBC News. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  9. 1 2 American Institute of Architects, San Francisco (2012). "Victorian Cottage & Wicker Furniture". Wicker, another form of low-priced furniture, attracted even greater interest beginning in the 1850s and soon became a fixture in almost every American setting. Wicker furniture, suitable for parlor, porch or lawn linked the indoors and outdoors. Hundreds of patterns in wicker, mass-produced by dozens of forms across the country, illustrate the range and richness of Victorian fashion.
  10. ↑ "From Country Store to Modern Furniture: 100 Years of Progress". 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  11. ↑ Easton, Adam. "Poland revives wicker tradition". Rudnik-on-San, Poland: BBC News. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "What is wicker?". LatourTuinmeubelen (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Ridgeon, Jonathan. "How to Weave a Wicker Basket: A practical guide" . Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  14. ↑ "Ferienwohnung Müller - Ihr Zuhause in Coburg - Weltgrößte Korbvase". www.fewoco.de. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
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