wickerwork

wickerwork, furniture made of real or simulated osier (rods or twigs). The Egyptians made furniture of this kind in the 3rd millennium bc, and it has always flourished in those regions in which there is a plentiful supply of riverside vegetation. A well-known example of Roman wickerwork is the chair on a 3rd-century-ad relief in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum at Trier, Ger., showing a woman at her toilet. Furniture of this kind provided the cheapest and most comfortable form of seating, though the material of which it was made has rendered it ephemeral, and knowledge of its early history can only be deduced from illustrations and literary references. There are many of these dating from Elizabethan and Jacobean times, when wickerwork was sometimes referred to as “Twiggie work.”

A simple open wickerwork, armless basket chair with a round seat—a type still produced—probably represents a historic shape; but more complex and specialized forms evolved in the 19th century with the increasing demand for lounge chairs and with the closer contacts that were being established with Asian countries. One particular form, with footrests, arms, and upholstered cushions, was evolved on the ocean liners that sailed to the tropics and was then adapted for domestic use. Although used predominantly for chairs, wickerwork was also employed for beds, cradles, and garden tables.