Please visit the Meeting House on January 21st, from 1 to 2pm, to see Part 2 of BHS member, Jim Parker, demonstration on how to cane a chair the way it was done in the 1800's. We hope you can make it. The event is free (donations gladly accepted), registration is not necessary, and we hope you can join us. Below is a brief history of chair caning:
Chair caning history goes way back. The craft of chair seat weaving and chair caning, in particular, has been practiced for centuries and is still a viable craft today, experienced all over the world.
Similar cane or “wicker” weaves date back as far as Egyptian times with artifacts such as a woven daybed discovered that once belonged to King Tutankhamen, (1325 B. C.). Chair seat weaving, and especially chair caning was practiced in South East Asia, Portugal, France, and England in the mid-1600s, becoming very popular and extensively used through the 1700-1800s and on into the early 1900s.
The techniques and materials have not changed much in all the years and only a few common tools are necessary to repair chair seats, making chair caning a craft that nearly anyone can master with just a little patience and tenacity (text and picture taken from wickerwoman.com).
