What is rattan material?

Rattan is one of the materials used to make wicker furniture and other furnishings. It comes from a plant that grows in hot, tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australia. The quick-growing plant has a bamboo-like inner material that gets removed and fashioned into cane. Stalks of rattan (whose name derives from the Malay “rota”) are dense, steamable and bendable, which is why it lends itself to curvaceous designs and infinite creative uses in a way bamboo does not. Pieces of rattan furniture were welcomed indoors in the mid-20th century, and over time the medium has been put to use by giants of modernism such as Josef Hoffmann, Thonet, Jean-Michel Frank and Donald Deskey. Shop a wide variety of rattan furniture on 1stDibs.