Accession Number

2017.013.002

Description

A dark brown wicker rocking chair. The body is made of a wooden frame wrapped with reed. The woven split rattan seat is reinforced with canvas strips bellow. Decorative lattice work panel along the back in a flower pattern with a checkerboard pattern on either side. Rounded arms and edges.

Narrative

Wicker furniture was very popular among North American homeowners during the late 19^th Century. The pliable nature of the rattan reed allowed designers to create artistic furniture that was relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Historic photographs of Victorian domestic interiors reveal that wicker furniture could be found in almost every room of the well-appointed house.

This chair has an affixed label that has been obscured with black paint. The label’s dimensions are identical to the label on the armchair that is part of this accession (2017.013.001). The armchair’s label indicates manufacture by Heywood Bros. & Co. of Gardner, Massachusetts. Because that firm merged with the Wakefield Rattan Company to become “The Heywood Bros. and Wakefield Company” in 1897, this label might indicate that the chair was made in 1897 or earlier.

The 1909 auction catalogue of items sold from Craigdarroch after Mrs. Dunsmuir’s death lists twelve pieces of wicker seating furniture, including one rocker and ten armchairs. This rocking chair’s presence in Craigdarroch’s period room settings increases the authenticity of Dunsmuir-era presentation in the Castle.

History of Use

This rocking chair was purchased new and used in the Burch family house in St. Catharines, Ontario (now demolished) from about 1890 onward. Mr. George Burch owned and managed a thriving machine and tool factory in St. Catharines. The house was located at 79 Thorold Road and known to the family as the “Thorold Road House”. It was one of most lavish mansions in the area. A high-quality period photograph of the library in this house has survived, and this rocking chair is depicted in it. A copy of the photograph forms part of the collection record. The donor is the great granddaughter of George Burch.

Date

1880 – 1897

Dimensions

88 x 62 x 62 cm

Material

Cane; Fabric, cotton, canvas