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Woven furniture, or furniture items which include woven elements, have been in use from the earliest civilizations of Egypt and China.

The common rush woven seats are so called because of the use of bulrushes for this weave in ancient Egypt. Cattail, another marshland plant, is now the primary material used in genuine rush seats. Several other materials, including even banana leaves and heavy, twisted, kraft paper, are also now used to weave rush pattern seats. Material innovations resulting from a lack of the standard weaving materials during the American westward migration of the nineteenth century include rawhide as well as ash or oak splint.

The hard, glossy, outer skin of the rattan vine has been used since the days of ancient China for weaving seats for chairs. This rattan cane is still the most widely used material used for chair seats and is available in pre-woven sheets as well. The most common woven pattern is illustrated in the photo to the right, but other interesting and attractive weaves have been developed for hand woven cane chairs as well and if you have one of those weaves, we can help you.

The elaborate designs of victorian era wicker furniture resulted from the discovery of Cyrus Wakefield, a Massachusetts businessman in the 1850s, that the core of the rattan plant, previously discarded as waste, could, unlike rattan cane, be bent to hold a shape and could be stained or painted. From hoops for skirts to hoops for chair backs to fanciful curlicues and woven sheets came the widely distributed wicker furniture of the late nineteenth century and beyond.

As with all other furniture items, woven items become worn or broken and need rejuvenation. Craftsman Furniture Service is pleased to offer the services of Lucinda Morrical, who has been well known in the Sacramento region for two decades as the preeminent practitioner of the craft of furniture weaving. Early in 2006, she joined her business, The Furniture Weaver, with ours. Her knowledge, her experience, her attention to detail, her skill at the many materials and patterns encountered in woven furniture, make her a very compatible and respected member of the CRAFTSMAN staff.

On the pages accessed by the links to the right, we will illustrate the services we offer to those with woven furniture.

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