Society has been using wicker type furniture since the start of civilization. Natural-rush furniture has been found in Egyptian tombs dating from 4000 BC and it is thought that hand caning originated in China centuries before Europeans saw their first caned furniture, such as the chairs seen in Dowager Countess of Grantham Violet Crawley's sitting room on the PBS series "Downton Abbey". Hand caning and rush seat weaving are dying art forms and it is our intent not to let that happen. Every chair we see comes with a story or has a story yet to come! Our mission at Hank's is to restore your chair/furniture while refreshing the memory that accompanies it! Or possibly it's a chair with memories still to unfold! Don't throw that chair out without talking to us first! ~ Lynn