Rattan furniture gained prominence in Britain and Europe during the Victorian era. Lightweight, hygienic, and exotic, it became a preferred choice for colonial travellers and was commonly found in gardens and terraces.
Founded in 1907, the British rattan workshop Dryad quickly gained recognition for its craftsmanship. By 1916, its chairs were well-regarded, even humorously noted in The Aeroplane magazine for their comfort. During World War I, Dryad shifted to producing war supplies, including baskets, stretchers, and ammunition casings.
From the late 19th century, rattan chairs became favoured props for artists and photographers. Cecil Beaton helped popularize them in photography and stage design, particularly for My Fair Lady (1956). The peacock chair became a common feature in celebrity photography, appearing in portraits of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy.
Artists such as Matisse, Sargent, and Renoir depicted rattan chairs in their works, while William Merritt Chase used them extensively in his studio. Rattan chairs were even used at the 1945 Potsdam Conference, seating Churchill, Truman, and Stalin.
In the early 20th century, rattan furniture was featured in luxury transport, including aeroplanes, yachts, and trains. Dryad furnished the RMS Titanic, while Czar Nicholas II commissioned rattan pieces for his royal yacht. Fiat continues to use woven rattan seats in its Fiat 500 Jolly.
When Dryad eventually closed in 1956, Angraves, another English workshop, and the last remaining rattan weavers in the UK, absorbed the Dryad archive and continued to make many of their best-known designs until 2010. Soane Britain was a customer of the company and, on learning that it had gone into administration, subsequently bought the machinery and reemployed the only remaining practitioners of traditional rattan weaving to ensure the survival of the craft. Soane Britain continues to manufacture contemporary rattan furniture in Leicester today.
Traditionally, the frame making, randing (weaving) and finishing are carried out by different craftspeople. This distinction remains today with craftspeople trained in their specialism.
It can take a skilled weaver up to 3 days to make a large lampshade and over 4 weeks to make a finely woven sofa.
Material Preparation: Rattan, a flexible and durable vine, is harvested primarily from Southeast Asia. It is cleaned, stripped of its outer layer, and cut into various sizes depending on the intended design. The core is often used for weaving, while the thicker sections form the furniture’s frame.
Steam Bending: One of the key techniques in rattan furniture making is steam bending. Rattan poles are heated with steam to make them pliable, allowing artisans to shape them into intricate curves and designs. Once cooled, the material retains its shape, ensuring durability.
Weaving and Binding: Weaving is a fundamental technique used to create intricate patterns and textures. Skilled craftsmen interlace rattan strips in various styles, such as open weave, tight weave, or herringbone patterns. Binding techniques involve securing joints and frames with thinner rattan strips, adding both strength and decorative detail.
Joinery and Assembly: Traditional joinery methods are commonly used to ensure structural integrity without the need for nails or screws. Artisans often reinforce these joints with woven bindings for additional support.
Finishing Touches: Once assembled, the furniture undergoes singeing, sanding and polishing to smooth rough edges. It may then be stained, varnished, or left in its natural state to enhance its aesthetic appeal. Some pieces receive protective coatings to improve weather resistance for outdoor use.
Training and recruitment issues: There are no government apprenticeships in rattan weaving or any access to funding to support training. Soane runs its own apprenticeship training programme which is has trained 4 apprentices and is currently training a further 10. These apprentices benefit from the company’s membership of the National Living Wage Foundation, ensuring that they receive fair wages even while in training.
Skills issues: Currently there is only one rattan company working in the UK, meaning that all the skills and knowledge of rattan furniture making are held in one place. Soane are actively investing in skills but this is potentially risky in the longer term.
A significant amount of skills were lost since the 1970s, when a lot of manufacturing was moved to Asia.
Sourcing and sustainability of raw materials: Rattan is primarily sourced from tropical regions of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. It grows as a vine in dense rainforests, climbing trees for support. Harvested sustainably, rattan is valued for its rapid growth and renewability. However, tracing sources and verifying production methods in extended supply chains outside the UK is extremely challenging and there are no verified standards or certification systems specifically for rattan.
Soane are tackling this issue by establishing direct relationships with suppliers in Vietnam and sourcing materials in person to ensure traceability and fair working conditions. Despite this, the challenges of traceability are ongoing and further work is needed to establish certification and third party verification for materials like rattan.
Sourcing good quality material has always been an issue for rattan, which can vary widely in quality.
The only training available for rattan weaving is the apprenticeship programme run by Soane Britain.
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