Editing Wicker (section)

==History==
[[File:Large Oval Storage Basket MET 36.3.57a-b EGDP011891.jpg|thumb|left|Wicker basket, Egypt, New Kingdom, c. 1492–1473 BC]]
Wicker has been documented as far back as [[ancient Egypt]], made from indigenous "reed and swamp grasses."<ref name=randomhistory>{{Cite web | url = http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/005furniture.html | title = From Egypt to the American Patio: The History of Wicker Furniture | publisher = Random History | date= 4 May 2007 | access-date = 11 October 2012}}</ref> Middle-class families could only afford a few pieces, such as small tables.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Egypt/egyptian_social.html |title=Ancient Egyptian Social Life: Professions |first=Lisa |last=Kremen |date=29 April 1997 |access-date=11 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527133903/http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Egypt/egyptian_social.html |archive-date=May 27, 2007 }}</ref> However, archaeologists working on the tombs of the wealthy [[pharaoh]]s have uncovered a wider variety of wicker items,<ref name=saunders>{{cite book | last=Saunders | first=Richard | year=1990 |title = Wicker Furniture: A Guide to Restoring and Collecting | publisher=Random House, Inc.}}</ref> including "chests, baskets, wig boxes, and chairs".<ref name=randomhistory/>  Wicker even found use in the [[Achaemenid Empire]] on the battlefield, in [[shield]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.7.vii.html |title=The History of Herodotus |last=Herodotus}}</ref>

The popularity of wicker passed from ancient Egypt and [[Persia]] to [[ancient Rome]]. Wicker baskets were used to carry items in [[Pompeii]].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4695097.stm | date = 18 July 2005 | title = Rare Pompeii dinner set unveiled | first = David | last = Willey | publisher = BBC News | location = Rome | access-date = 11 October 2012}}</ref> Furniture was manufactured out of wicker in the Roman style.<ref name=randomhistory/>  It has been proposed that the extensive use of wicker in the [[Iron Age]] (1200 BC – 400 AD in Europe) may have influenced the development of the woven patterns used in [[Celtic art]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} By the 16th and 17th centuries, wicker was "quite common"<ref name=randomhistory/> in European countries like [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], and England.

[[File:Portable basket for tea utensils, by Hayakawa Shokosai I, Japan, Osaka, 1883 - Asian Art Museum of San Francisco - DSC01496.JPG|thumb|upright=.8|Rattan wicker basket, 1883]]
Wicker received a boost during the [[Age of Exploration]], when international sea traders returned from [[Philippines]] with a species of [[palm tree|palm]] called [[rattan]]. Rattan is stronger than traditional European wicker materials,<ref name=saunders/> although the rattan stem can be separated so the softer inner core can be used for wicker.

The 19th century brought immense popularity for wicker in Europe, England, and North America.<ref name=randomhistory/> It was used outdoors as well as indoors. People in the [[Victorian Era]] believed it to be more sanitary than upholstered furniture.<ref name=randomhistory/> It was inexpensive,<ref name=aiasf>{{cite web | author = American Institute of Architects, San Francisco | title = Victorian Cottage & Wicker Furniture | year = 2012 | url = http://aiasf.org/event/2012/09/11/victorian-cottage-wicker-furniture/ | quote = Wicker, another form of low-priced furniture, attracted even greater interest beginning in the 1850s and soon became a fixture in almost every American setting. Wicker furniture, suitable for parlor, porch or lawn linked the indoors and outdoors. Hundreds of patterns in wicker, mass-produced by dozens of forms across the country, illustrate the range and richness of Victorian fashion.}}</ref> resisted harsh weather and was adaptable to many styles.<ref name=aiasf/>

[[File:Armchair MET DP216214.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|Willow wicker armchair, c. 1907–13]]

In the United States, [[Cyrus Wakefield]] began constructing rattan furniture in the 1850s. He first used rattan that had been offloaded from ships, where it was used as ballast,<ref name="saunders" /> but as his designs became well-known, he began importing the material himself.<ref name="randomhistory" /> Wakefield's company became one of the leading industries in wicker furniture;<ref name="randomhistory" /> it later merged with the Heywood Chair Manufacturing Company (a wooden chair company<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.woodysantiques.com/aboutheywoodwakefield/index.asp | title = From Country Store to Modern Furniture: 100 Years of Progress | year = 2008 | access-date = 11 October 2012}}</ref> that had invented a mechanical process for weaving wicker seats<ref name="randomhistory" />) to form the [[Heywood-Wakefield Company|Heywood-Wakefield]], one of the oldest and most prominent North American wicker manufacturers.<ref name="randomhistory" />

In Italy wicker furniture were presented in 1902 at the first exhibition of modern decorative art held in Turin. Antonio Dal Vera of Conegliano Veneto became the largest industry in the rattan furniture sector in Italy in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Intrecci: il mobile in vimini italiano | last=De Guttry Irene e Maino Maria Paola | date=1995 | publisher=Il cardo Publishers | isbn=978-8-88-079051-8 | page=34}}</ref>

In recent times, its aesthetic was influenced heavily by the [[Arts and Crafts movement]] at the turn of the 20th century.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

Wicker is still a popular material. Antique wicker products are highly sought after by collectors. Reproductions of furniture and accent pieces are also sold for indoor and outdoor use.<ref name="alfresia1" /> (In North America today, "rattan" and "wicker" are frequently used interchangeably.) Wickerwork is an important industry in [[Poland]], employing hundreds of skilled workers to create goods for export to western Europe.<ref>{{cite news | title = Poland revives wicker tradition | first=Adam |last=Easton | publisher = BBC News | location=Rudnik-on-San, [[Poland]]| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4739481.stm | access-date = 11 October 2012}}</ref>

[[Laundry basket]]s have been and are popular in Europe.