All About Rattan and Rattan Furniture

All About Rattan and Rattan Furniture
By Lisa Hallett Taylor

Updated 08/18/19
Lisa Hallett Taylor
Rattan is a type of climbing or trailing vine-like palm native to the tropical

jungles of Asia, Malaysia, and China. One of the largest sources has been the
Philippines. Palasan rattan can be identified by its tough, solid stems that vary
from one to two inches in diameter and its vines, which grow as long as 200 to
500 feet.
When rattan is harvested, it is cut into 13-foot lengths, and the dry sheathing is
removed. Its stems are dried in the sun and then stored for seasoning. Then,
these long rattan poles are straightened, graded by diameter and quality
(judged by its nodes; the fewer internodes, the better), and shipped to furniture
manufacturers. Rattan's outer bark is used for caning, while its inner reed-like
section is used to weave wicker furniture. Wicker is the weaving process, not
an actual plant or material. Introduced to the West during the early 19th
century, rattan has become the standard material for caning. Its strength and
ease of manipulation (manipulability) have made it one of the most popular of
the many natural materials used in wickerwork.
Rattan's Attributes
Its popularity as a material for furniture—both outdoor and indoor—is

unmistakable. Able to be bent and curved, rattan takes on many wonderful
curving forms. Its light, golden color brightens a room or outdoor environment
and instantly conveys a feeling of a tropical paradise.
As a material, rattan is lightweight and almost impervious and is easy to move

and handle. It can withstand extreme conditions of humidity and temperature
and has a natural resistance to insects.
Are Rattan and Bamboo the Same Thing?
For the record, rattan and bamboo are not from the same plant or species.
Bamboo is a hollow grass with horizontal growth ridges along its stems. It was
used to build small pieces of furniture and accessories in the late 1800s and
early 1900s, especially in tropical locales. A few bamboo furniture
manufacturers incorporated rattan poles for their smoothness and added
strength.
Rattan in the 20th Century
During the height of the British Empire in the 19th century, bamboo and other
tropical furniture were extremely popular. Families once stationed in the tropics
and Asian countries returned to England with their bamboo and rattan
furnishings, which were usually brought indoors because of the cool English
climate.
By the early 20th century, Philippine-made rattan furniture began to show up in

the United States, as travelers brought it back on steamships. Earlier 20th-
century rattan furniture was designed in the Victorian style. Hollywood set
designers began using rattan furniture in many outdoor scenes, whetting the
appetites for movie-going and style-conscious audiences, who loved anything
that had to do with the idea of those romantic, far-off South Seas islands. A
style was born: call it Tropical Deco, Tiki, Hawaiiana, Tropical, Island, South
Seas, Kon Tiki or whatever.
Responding to the increasing request for rattan garden furniture, designers like
Paul Frankel began to create new looks for rattan. Frankel is credited with the
much-sought-after pretzel-armed chair, which takes a dip at the armrest.
Companies based in Southern California quickly followed suit, including
Tropical Sun Rattan of Pasadena, the Ritts Company and Seven Seas.
Remember the furniture in which Ferris Bueller sat outside during a scene in
the film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off or the living room set in the popular TV
series, The Golden Girls? Both were made of rattan, and were actually
restored vintage rattan pieces from the 1950s. Just like the earlier days, the
use of vintage rattan in films, television, and pop culture helped spur a
renewed interest in the furniture in the 1980s, and it has continued to be
popular among collectors and admirers.
Some collectors are interested in the design, or form, of a rattan piece, while
others consider a piece more desirable if it has several stems or "strands"
stacked or positioned together, like on an arm or at a chair base.
The Future Supply of Rattan
While rattan is used in a variety of products, the most important is the

manufacture of furniture; rattan supports a global industry valued at more than
US$4 billion per year, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Previously, much of the commercially harvested raw vine was exported to
overseas manufacturers. By the mid-1980s, however, Indonesia introduced an
export ban on raw rattan vine to encourage the local manufacture of rattan
furniture.
Until recently, almost all rattan was collected from tropical rainforests. With
forest destruction and conversion, the habitat area of rattan has decreased
rapidly over the last few decades, and rattan has experienced a supply
shortage. Indonesia and a district of Borneo are the only two places in the
world that produce rattan certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Because it needs trees to grow, rattan can provide an incentive for
communities to conserve and restore the forest on their land.
Resources:
Rattan: Tropical Comfort Throughout the House by Harvey Schwartz (Schiffer
Publishing Ltd.; 1999)
Dictionary of Furniture by Charles Boyce (Owl Books, Henry Holt and
Company, Inc., 1985)
https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-rattan-furniture-made-from-2736315

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All About Rattan and Rattan Furniture

By Lisa Hallett Taylor

Lisa Hallett Taylor

Rattan is a type of climbing or trailing vine-like palm native to the tropical

Its popularity as a material for furniture—both outdoor and indoor—is

As a material, rattan is lightweight and almost impervious and is easy to move

Are Rattan and Bamboo the Same Thing?

Rattan in the 20th Century

By the early 20th century, Philippine-made rattan furniture began to show up in

The Future Supply of Rattan

While rattan is used in a variety of products, the most important is the

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