Here's An Inside Look At How Wicker Is Made At England's Oldest Workshop
Here's An Inside Look At How Wicker Is Made At England's Oldest Workshop
Since Soane Britain cofounder Lulu Lytle rescued the U.K.’s last rattan workshop in 2010, the designer has become something of a standard-bearer for wicker today—not to mention tireless champion of British workmanship. “Once a particular craft has gone, it will never come back," she insists. "It needs protecting the same way the rhino does.”
Such was the thinking behind safeguarding the fledgling Leicestershire workshop that crafts her company's most iconic wicker pieces (like the Rattan Ripple Console, shown below). Deeply embedded in England's long wicker legacy, the shop originated more than a century ago, even contributing to war efforts in the 1940s by crafting baskets for reconnaissance hot air balloons, seats for aircraft, and cases for artillery shells.
But as Far East goods became more accessible and less expensive, demand for the locally made wares began to dry up and the company teetered. Sensing both promise and urgency in the legacy firm, Lytle brought it into the fold of Soane's furniture and lighting outfit. Today, talented craftspeople continue the historic weaving traditions, one piece at a time. Here, she offers a peek at the handmade journey from cane to coveted console inside the storied workshop.
Steaming the Wood
Stronger and more durable than most other plants, rattan is a vine with sturdy, flexible stems that scrambles through and over other vegetation. The plant arrives at the workshop as long canes of varying diameters that have to be steamed to make them malleable.
Bending and Shaping
Before the rattan cools, the craftsperson bends everything into a specific frame—in this case, Soane’s popular Rattan Ripple Console—and pins connections into place while the material gains back some of its rigidity.
Building the Skeleton
Before the rattan cools, the craftsperson bends everything into a specific frame—in this case, Soane’s popular Rattan Ripple Console—and pins connections into place while the material gains back some of its rigidity.
Bathing Smaller Strands
With the frame ready, thinner rattan strands are soaked in water baths to make them pliable before randing (weaving strands between rattan stakes) and wrapping, where craftspeople bind them around cane frames.
Randing by Hand
Once soft enough, the rattan strands are woven by hand—a bit like knitting without the needles, Lytle says. Randing is yet another labor-intensive step that makes each handcrafted rattan piece so valuable.
Curing the Piece
As the rattan dries, each strand contracts, giving the piece a tight finish. It can take a skilled weaver up to three days to make a lampshade and more than a month to weave a large sofa. (This console takes around 7 to 10 days.)
Preening and Finishing
Craftspeople singe off loose hairs, then paint, stain, or seal. And it’s a process for the ages: While machine-made wicker uses split canes that can grow brittle over time, a handcrafted piece is as strong as it is beautiful.
The traditional craft lives on in the U.K., thanks to Soane Britain.