The Victorian Style

The earliest American wicker is classified as Victorian, dating from the mid-1800s to 1900. A progression of several distinct woven designs transformed during that period. The initial forms are somewhat skeletal where wickerwork is simply wrapped over arches and curved frames. Victorian wicker is mostly recognized, however, for elaborate and intricate designs of the 1880s-1890s. The fanciful wicker of the aesthetic movement possesses a sculptural quality as hand woven works of art. Toward the turn of the century more subdued patterns were in vogue.

The Victorian Style

Victorian Motif Wicker

Victorian Motif Wicker

Motif wicker is an ornate category of Victorian wicker that first appeared in the 1870s. Motif seating pieces are woven creations where the back panel becomes the artist's canvas, so to speak. Also

Photographer's Chair

referred to as "theme" wicker, the back rest depicts an object, or multiple objects, in handwoven wickerwork.

Victorian Wicker
Photographers' Chairs

Wicker photographers' chairs flourished in the Victorian era. Also known as "posing chairs", these studio props provided an artistic wicker background for one's formal portrait. The subject would either perch on the seat or stand beside the chair for the photograph. These speciality chairs usually have elaborate ornamentation with a melange of intricate wickerwork. The whimsical patterns and asymmetry provide an aesthetic visual backdrop.

The Bar Harbor Style

The Bar Harbor style was made from the turn-of-the-century into the 1920s. It is characterized by hand woven criss-crossed reeds taking the form of diamond shaped lattice, finished in either a wide or narrow braided border. The frames of this open and airy style may be rounded with curves, or rectilinear as in Mission wicker.

The Bar Harbor Style

The Stick Wicker Style

Stick Wicker is tailored and streamlined having evenly spaced paired vertical reeds, usually without any overlapping design. Handwoven Stick Wicker from the early 1900s-late 1920s is characterized by a Modernist quality to its often angular frame. Special features include magazine pockets and glass holders woven into the arms of seating pieces.

The Stick Wicker Style

The Art Deco Style

The French inspired Art Deco style of American antique wicker thrived in the 1920s. Curved and peaked frames, rounded arms and flared legs feature various basketweave patterns closely woven overall. Visual interest often includes zig-zag designs, arrows, a diamond or cluster of diamonds. Lloyd loom wicker is closely woven as well, but with thinner diameter material. Mass production of wicker became available in 1917 when looms were used to weave fine reeds or twisted paper material into large sheets, much like yards of fabric. The material was then applied to wooden frames by hand.

Art Deco style lamp and chair

More Than a Century of
Classic American Wicker

The revival of classic woven furniture began in the 1960s and 70s and by the1980s its popularity was thriving once again. Interior design magazines as well as art and antiques publications reintroduced American antique wicker on several different levels - appreciation of its consummate artistry, versatility in decorating virtually any room setting, and the wide range of wicker work variations made during the span of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. More than a dozen books devoted exclusively to the history, design and care of authentic Americans antique wicker were published through the 1990s. The re-established acclaim for the four major styles of period wicker became comparable to its zenith of the late 1800s to 1920s. The resurgence of hand woven furniture is appreciated for its fine workmanship, utility and artistic sculptural qualities.

American wicker has been spotlighted in several historic exhibitions in the past 100 years. The 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was the most notable of the distant past. The Wakefield Rattan Co. of Massachusetts had a significant presence at that first American World's Fair, and made a huge impact on the popularity of wicker furniture at that time. Exposure of the company's display of a wide range of rattan goods led it to become known as the preeminent manufacturer associated with the American industry of woven furniture.

A contemporary exhibit in 1993, AMERICAN WICKER: Woven Furniture from 1850 to 1930, was held at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art in Washington D.C. Many private collectors and antiques dealers participated in that exhibition. It was an important and scholarly display and a milestone for the recognition of the useful and artistic value of American antique wicker.

Motif Settee Featuring a Two-Masted Schooner The first American schooner was launched in Gloucester Massachusetts in 1713, built by Capt. Andres Robinson.The name schooner is legendary, originating from the remark of an admiring bystander who exclaimed at the launch "Oh, how she schoons!" like a stone skimming water. As Capt. Robinson christened a bottle on her bow for its maiden voyage, he proclaimed "Then a schooner let her be"; This rare wicker sailing motif indeed "schoons" across the breadth of the settee backrest, It is believed to be a one of a kind piece of early American wicker, likely to have been privately commissioned for a prosperous sea captain's home. It is a proportionate wicker interpretation of the 2-masted schooners prevalent in the mid-1800s.

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