Wicker's Woven Beauty

QUESTION: I recently purchased a wicker chair at an antique shop. It doesn’t have any markings and the dealer couldn’t tell me much about it. I love this piece and it now occupies a prominent place in enclosed porch. Can you tell me anything about it? And can you also tell me a bit about the origins of wicker?.

ANSWER: Even though wicker has been around for quite a while, your chair originated during the peak of its popularity during the second half of the 19th century. Back then, the ornateness of wicker brought an element of taste to middle-class American homes.

Wicker has a long and interesting history, beginning in ancient Egypt.  The Egyptians wove the first wicker from palms, willows, rush and other materials, into simple boxes, baskets and stools. Although all classes of people owned wicker, it was only the important Egyptians with enough wealth to afford spacious tombs, who had it buried with them to use in their afterlife.

The Romans also used wicker. It played a role in nearly every function of the empire, from taking part in the cultural gatherings to assisting with the day-to-day activities of individual households. Until Roman times, the usual wicker pieces had been boxes, baskets, and stools, but by then wicker furnishings included chests, flexible chairs, divans and reclining chairs.

Back in the 17th century, the Dutch made wicker and brought it to England before sailing across the Atlantic to the New World. For the next several centuries objects made of wicker imported from Europe decorated American homes. 

Until the 1850s, furnishings were inexpensive and serviceable, therefore easily disregarded. Then through a changing cultural, economic, and social conditions, wicker became a status symbol for America's rising middle class.

Although the mass production of wicker began in America, the main materials used in its manufacture—cane and reed—came from rattan palms, which grew wild in Asia. In the early 1840s, Cyrus Wakefield, a shrewd young Yankee grocer, noticed huge quantities of rattan being discarded around the Boston docks after serving as packing material to protect cargo on clipper ships returning from Asia. 

Wakefield first used the pliable, shiny rattan to wrap around wooden chairs to make outdoor furniture. Then he began to split the outer bark of the rattan into strips called cane, to weave into seats and backs for indoor chairs and settees. Finally, he discovered that the porous substance under the cane could be made into reed to weave wicker with a more absorbent surface than rattan that would take paint and stain.

Discovering that chairs and tables could be made more cheaply from this strange material than importing finished pieces, he began making small pieces of furniture using this discarded rattan.

In 1873 he founded the Wakefield Rattan Company in Wakefield, Massachusetts. By the end of the decade, his firm accumulated sales of over $2 million. At its peak, his  company employed 1,000 workers in 30 buildings in Wakefield and another 800 in  Chicago.

Wakefield's successes encouraged Heywood and Brothers Company, wooden chair makers in Gardner, Massachusetts, to begin making wicker furniture in 1876. For the next 20 years, the two companies competed fiercely. They dominated the industry.

Both companies responded to economic prosperity following the Civil War which enabled middle class families to leave America’s dirty, crowded cities for clean, airy suburbs, prompting a demand for wicker furnishings. These light, airy pieces were ideal for the new gabled and turreted Queen Anne-style homes and for the verandas of resort hotels catering to the new vacationing middle classes.

Because it was easy to keep clean, wicker attracted those concerned about sanitation, and its lightness, adaptability and design potential, Victorian tastemakers loved it. Wicker not only satisfied those with good taste but did it at an affordable price. 

When the Aesthetic Movement swept America in the 1870s, stressing the uplifting moral and spiritual influence of artistic decors, tastemakers recommended the use of ornamental wicker in people’s homes. This emerging middle-class interest in aesthetically correct furniture encouraged Wakefield and other manufacturers to create increasingly ornate pieces that people associated with art and beauty. Fancy wicker enhanced the ostentatiously overdecorated Victorian parlors and expansive porches while proclaiming the taste of its owners. 

Curling, shaping and twisting pliable lengths of wetted reed into whimsical scrolls, spirals, and whirlygigs, skilled craftsmen fed the Victorian fever for more exotic wicker objects. They incorporated a variety of astronomical and botanical forms, flags, Oriental fans, shells, and ships into their elaborate designs. Two of the most unique pieces was the tete-a-tete, in which two people could sit side by side or the serpentine "Conversation Chair,"  in which a courting couple could sit facing each other.

Elegant tables were important to the decor of Victorian homes. With its intricate grid of legs and embellishments, fancy skirt and caned top, a square table would have added grace and utility to its owner's room.

The burgeoning demand for more elaborate forms reached its peak during the 1890s, when American wicker became more fanciful and ostentatious. A good example is the "Fancy Reception Chair,” featuring intricate tiny scrolls and frilly curlicues. Often designed as show pieces for elegant parlors rather than for actual use, these ornate chairs are fairly hard to find today and often sell for upwards of $1,000 in good condition.

By the turn of the 20th century, Victorian ornate design faded in favor of simplicity. Design reformers instead promoted the "Bar Harbor" style, simplified wicker furnishings with wide open, diagonal latticework that would fit plain, open interiors.

Just before World War I, the Arts and 'Crafts movement inspired American wicker   

manufacturers to create boxy, unornamented shapes ideal for the minimalist interiors of  newly-popular bungalow homes. Arts and Crafts leader Gustav Stickley produced a line  of square and-severe willow furniture reflecting his interest in geometric designs. By the   beginning of the Great Depression, wicker was all but dead in America.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Roaring Twenties" in the 2025 Spring Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Wristwatches Worth Collecting

 

QUESTION: My dad loved old watches and over time he collected over four dozen. Most of them are wristwatches, from classic ones to special, novelty examples. He has since died, and his watch collection came to me. I’m not exactly sure what to do with it. Part of me wants to continue my father’s collection, but another part has no idea how to do that since I don’t have the passion for watches that he did. Can help?

ANSWER: Before you do anything with your dad’s watch collection, it’s important to learn what you have. Make a list of all the watches and systemically research each one to learn more them. Once you do that, you’ll be in a better position to deal with your collection.

The wristwatch has been around for nearly 150 years. For much of that time, they’ve represented some of the world’s most accurate timepieces. Today, the function of the wristwatch has been taken over by smartphones and fitness bands, but the beauty of those old watches remains and in many cases they’ve kept on ticking.

The wristwatch originated in 1868, when Patek & Philippe of Switzerland modified a tiny pocket watch for the Hungarian Countess Koscowicz. However, it took several years for Philippe, or any other watchmaker, to make anything other than the popular pocket watch—plus several more before any of them produced a wristwatch that could be priced reasonably enough for people to buy.

As the 19th century progressed, women's miniature pocket watches were often attached to a decorative bracelet or leather strap, to be worn on the wrist as a fashion accessory. In a 1891, Audemars Piguet of Switzerland created an 18mm minute repeater movement, one of the smallest of its kind.

By the 20th century, several other manufacturers introduced wristwatches, and while ladies bought them, men didn’t because they considered them to be effeminate.

But World War I changed all that. During the first decade of the 20th century, Robert Ingersoll designed a line of ladies pocket watches for the Waterbury Company. The “Midget” was both tiny and inexpensive, and the U.S. Armed Forces ordered thousands for use by their troops, requesting that the winding crown be moved from the 12 o'clock to the 3 o'clock position. After soldering a pair of wire loops at 12 and 6 o'clock, they attached the Midget to a band, creating the world's first inexpensive wristwatch.

Now Ingersoll also invented a luminous paint called Radiolite, a radium compound, which when applied to the watch's hands and numerals, allowed them to glow in the dark. Not only could soldiers now tell time in the dark, they also began to appreciate the convenience of a wristwatch over the traditional pocket watch. By the end of the war, the modified Midget had changed men’s perception of the wristwatch.

In 1920, only 25 percent of the watches exported by Switzerland were wristwatches; by 1934, the figure had risen to 65 percent.

Fashion and technology were also rapidly changing. Between 1915 and 1940, watch companies introduced thousands of unique styles for both men and women, each vying for their share of a burgeoning market. By the late 1920s, automatic self-winding and water-resistant models were in production, and by the late 1930s,shock-resistant movements were in the works.

The 1930s would also introduce the character watch. In 1933, the Ingersoll-Waterbury Company, under exclusive license from Walt Disney, produced character watches and clocks featuring Mickey Mouse. The watches retailed for $2.98. Macy’s Department Store in New York sold over 11,000 on the first day of their release. Not only was Ingersoll-Waterbury saved from the financial ruin of the Depression, after eight weeks of production, they added 2,700 employees to their 300-person work force. By 1935, more than 2.5 million Mickey Mouse watches had been sold.

The success of Ingersoll-Waterbury encouraged other watch companies to begin producing collectible character watches in the 1930s. Examples include Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Donald Duck and the Lone Ranger. Ironically, while World War I brought wristwatches to public favor, it would be World War II that would all but curb production, as watch factories reorganized for the war effort.

After World War II, people had a renewed interest in character watches, a trend which has continued to the present. Unlike watches made in the 19th century, character watches are relatively inexpensive, so more people can buy them, especially online. For example, a 1978 Registered Edition Bradley 50th Birthday Mickey Mouse watch can still be found for $75.The same holds true for many watches from the 1950s. A 1950s U.S. Time Zorro watch will cost around $125, and a 1951 Ingraham Dale Evans sells for about $75. There are exceptions, but even these aren’t completely out of reach. An example would be a Roy Rogers, mint in box, which sells for about $400.

While character watches may be fun to collect, there are some who prefer to collect premium vintage watches. Gruen watches are especially popular. What separates true antique watches is that all of them are mechanical—that means they need to be wound each day. It’s because they’re mechanical that many people shy away from them. Today, people live in a battery-operated world and they don’t want to have to remember to wind their watch.

What separates one vintage watch from another is the brand. Younger collectors tend to favor stainless steel watches over gold or two-tone and look for names like Omega, Breitling and Tag Heuer. The older crowd gravitates toward the traditional elegance and style of Rolex, Patek Phillippe, and Vacheron Constantin.

Unfortunately, the luxury wristwatch market has been overrun by fakers. While the Internet has opened the selection of watches to people all over the world, it has also opened the floodgates for every crook and con artist. Because these wa

tches cost so much, most buyers are looking for bargains. If the price seems too good to be true, then the watch is probably a fake. Like luxury cars, luxury watches hold their value. Being an antique just adds to it. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Roaring Twenties" in the 2025 Spring Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.