Rattan Wingback Chairs

Find a collection of vintage rattan wingback chairs for your living room today on 1stDibs.

Lightweight, durable and versatile, rattan furniture is whatever one wants it to be: elegant or rustic, chic or workaday. For rattan wingback chairs, recliners, bergère chairs and other rattan armchairs and seating, there is no shortage of popular search terms for interested parties — suggestions include Bielecky Brothers, New York–based makers of handcrafted rattan furniture since 1903; Milanese artist-designer Gabriella Crespi, who blended rattan with brass in sexy, sculptural pieces during the 1970s; and Peacock chairs, a catchall term for the numberless iterations of the beloved high-backed seat.

Although the functional aspect of such a seat may be obsolete in the 21st century, wingback chairs have maintained their popularity over the years and have seen waves of revivals, from mid-century modern spinoffs to playful contemporary adaptations. After all, who wouldn’t want to kick back in a classic Papa Bear chair and ottoman by Hans Wegner?

Few things inspire such extreme devotion as furnishings crafted from the versatile fibers of a tropical palm native to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Indeed, antique and vintage rattan wingback chairs and other furniture made from the material have found legions of devotees over time. The long-lasting natural medium, made popular in Great Britain and the United States during the Victorian era, is a master of disguise, able to mingle with a wide range of styles — when done the right way.

The use of rattan stretches from prehistory to IKEA. To clarify, rattan is not bamboo, which is a rigid, hollow reed. Stalks of rattan (whose name derives from the Malay rotan) are dense, steamable and bendable, which is why it lends itself to curvaceous designs and infinite creative uses in a way bamboo does not. Nor is rattan synonymous with wicker, which is a broader term for woven items — often made of rattan fibers but also of willow, other pliable reeds or even synthetic materials.

“Furniture made out of woven materials has occurred since the beginning of time and in every culture,” says interior designer and rattan aficionado Amanda Lindroth, noting that in earlier times, rattan furnishings were most often found in semi-outdoor settings like sunrooms and porches. Rattan pieces 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. 

Find rattan wingback chairs and other rattan furniture on 1stDibs.