Chair Caning: an art form dating from the time of Moses

By Mark Okrant

Each time Robyn Ross painstakingly restores a beautiful cane chair, she is propagating an art form that is many centuries old. At the same time, the Laconia resident is continuing a tradition that has been in her family for several generations. The proprietor of one of fewer than 10 chair caning businesses in the Granite State, Ross is the third generation in her family to perform the craft. Ross learned caning from her mother, Louise Sawyer who, in turn, was taught by her father.

In an effort to learn more about weaving in the Lakes Region, I was fortunate enough to interview Robyn Ross, proprietor of Robyn’s Chair Caning in Laconia. In the true tradition of a cottage industry, Ross operates the caning business inside her Moulton Street house. I was interested to learn whether chair caning—much like the region’s vital tourism industry—has a peak season. Ross explained that the high-season for caning chairs closely matches the time period when summer visitation is at its zenith. Ross depends substantially on summer visitors arriving to houses and cottages they own or rent in the area. Therefore, the time between May and October, into November, provides most of her business. Once Thanksgiving passes, demand for caning services is dramatically reduced. 

I had incorrectly envisioned caning as an activity wherein Ross and her colleagues produce brand new chairs for clients. This second misconception was quickly corrected, as Ross has not produced a single new chair during her 30 years as a caner. Rather, she does much of her work for antique dealers and furniture repair businesses that have acquired worn or damaged chairs in need of doctoring. Many of these proprietors have worked with Ross for years, having evolved a symbiotic relationship between businesses. 

With rare exceptions, Ross does all of her repair work in her home. I asked how often she has needed to repair the same chair more than one time. Her response surprised me. “Never. Cane chair seats last 30 years with normal wear and tear. So, I haven’t needed to repair any chairs a second time. Of course, I’ve been doing this for 30 years now . . . so . . .”

I was curious about which of the numerous types of caning Ross prefers. She replied that most of her work has been in splints weave, shaker tapes, and rush. When I pressed her to tell me which is her favorite, she replied without hesitation, “Splints weave . . . it produces a herring bone pattern that looks nice and, when it’s completed, makes a comfortable seat. By contrast, rush is very difficult to work with and produces a hard, less comfortable seat. 

Antique dealers, furniture repair businesses, and owners of wounded chairs can reach Robyn’s Chair Caning by contacting Ross in advance. Call or text her at 520-4450 or email Robyn at robyn@chaircaningnh.com.

How did chair caning evolve? In all probability, the earliest cane work was done in ancient China. At some point in very early times, the technique made its way to Egypt. We know this because caned chairs have been found in Egyptian tombs dating to 1300 BCE, more than 3,000 years ago. 

The earliest evidence of the craft in Europe dates to 1500 AD, where seat caners and weavers in England and France were given the name, “bottomers.” Meanwhile, those who specialized in weaving fiber rush were called “matters” for their skill in creating floor mats by hand. Written evidence indicates that caned bottom chairs were very popular among affluent Europeans during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Later, with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, a relationship developed between industry and the arts. During the 1830s and 1840s, factories produced quality wooden furniture that was turned over to artisans who wove seat bottoms as a cottage industry enterprise. By the 1890s, machines were incorporated into the process, creating woven sheets of cane that were pressed into a groove in the chair’s frame. This method still exists today, creating an alternative to the hand-woven seat bottom. 

There are a number of misconceptions about chair caning. One of these is that most chairs are made from woven rattan. Rattan—or pressed cane—is a very long vine from the rattan palm, calamus rotang, that grows in the rainforests of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and China. The very flexible vine snakes its way along the forest floor before climbing up through the trees in search of sunlight. These vines, which can grow from one to six hundred feet in length, are miserable to harvest and work with. First, thorns and joints need to be removed; next the bark must be separated from the core and processed into strips. The process of creating rattan chairs has been described as tedious, time consuming, and very hard on the weaver’s hands. 

What types of caning are more popular among caners in this part of the world? The leaders are splints weave, fiber rush, pressed cane, shaker tapes, and pre-twisted natural rush. If you’re like me, these terms might as well be Klingon in origin. Splints weave utilizes ash splints that come in widths ranging from one-half to one inch. These are hand stripped from timber, then woven into an attractive herring bone pattern. Fiber rush is constructed from tough, twisted paper—that’s right, paper—ranging from 4/32 to 6/32 in width. Some people may laugh at the notion of sitting on a seat bottom made of paper. However, be advised that the stuff is very durable. Pressed cane is made from rattan palm. Most US weavers eschew its use for reasons described above. Some weavers use reeds imported from Madagascar or China; however, these artisans principally produce baskets. Finally, the Shaker tape technique is derived from the Shaker communities that were at their peak during the mid-19th century. Shaker tapes are one-inch-wide and are produced in a variety of colors. The resulting chairs are characterized by very attractive two-tone checkerboard patterns.