Hawaiiana - Rattan Furniture - Collecting Tiki

T Tiki_Bong Member Huntington Beach, CA Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: -16	T Tiki_Bong Posted posted on Sun, Nov 23, 2003 8:25 PM The following pieces of rattan furniture are in my Tiki Hut bar & recording studio. Even though I prefer koa furniture, rattan is what comes to mind when most people think 'tiki'. Rattan is a plant in the palm family which grows in tropical jungles. Tough, solid stems of palasan rattan vary from one to two inches in diameter and grow as vines 200 to 500 feet in length. When harvested, rattan is cut into 13-foot lengths and dried adn stored for seasoning. These poles are straightened, graded by diameter and quality (judged by the inter-node spacing, fewer nodes is better), and shipped to furniture-making factories. Rattan is almost impervious, but light-weight and easy to handle. It will withstand extreme conditions and temperature and has a natural resistance to bug damage. Unlike rattan, bamboo is a hollow grass with horizontal growth ridges along its stem. When constructing furniture from rattan, the long poles are bent into molds and nailed at the joints. When they are dry, they hold their forms lashed together with long, flat, and thin wrapping fiber, called bury, in neat and intricate patterns. The best quality rattan furniture has these features: a) intricate bends, the more the better; Pretzel and related variations command the highest prices; b) many poles tightly stacked, ranging from two poles in more common forms to twelve poles (which are nearly impossible to find today), the most sought after rattan has six stacked poles; c) few blemishes such as dark spots or stem nodes, d) well wrapped joints which add beauty to the pieces and e) the older the better. six pole couch and chair. Rocking chairs. Double horseshoe 4-band chair. Breakfast hutch with 1940's Santa Anita dinner ware. Ah, I'm a bit thirsty now. Aloha! [ Edited by: Tiki_Bong on 2003-11-23 20:28 ]

The following pieces of rattan furniture are in my Tiki Hut bar & recording studio.

Even though I prefer koa furniture, rattan is what comes to mind when most people think 'tiki'.

Rattan is a plant in the palm family which grows in tropical jungles. Tough, solid stems of palasan rattan vary from one to two inches in diameter and grow as vines 200 to 500 feet in length. When harvested, rattan is cut into 13-foot lengths and dried adn stored for seasoning.

These poles are straightened, graded by diameter and quality (judged by the inter-node spacing, fewer nodes is better), and shipped to furniture-making factories.

Rattan is almost impervious, but light-weight and easy to handle. It will withstand extreme conditions and temperature and has a natural resistance to bug damage.

Unlike rattan, bamboo is a hollow grass with horizontal growth ridges along its stem.

When constructing furniture from rattan, the long poles are bent into molds and nailed at the joints. When they are dry, they hold their forms lashed together with long, flat, and thin wrapping fiber, called bury, in neat and intricate patterns.

The best quality rattan furniture has these features: a) intricate bends, the more the better; Pretzel and related variations command the highest prices; b) many poles tightly stacked, ranging from two poles in more common forms to twelve poles (which are nearly impossible to find today), the most sought after rattan has six stacked poles; c) few blemishes such as dark spots or stem nodes, d) well wrapped joints which add beauty to the pieces and e) the older the better.