Susan Day Moore of Wicker By Design offers some of her tips learned from 15 years of experience in working with portrait photographers. You can also learn more about how Susan started out in antique wicker restoration and how she eventually developed a business of designing and selling props to portrait photographers.   A review of the history of wicker furniture can be seen below.

The term "wicker" refers not only to reeds that are are fashioned into furniture - the term also refers to a style of woven, lightweight furniture and accessories.   The material used can be rattan, willow, reed, cane, twisted paper and even polyurethane "wicker" strands.

The processes that are used in the making of that wicker garden furniture are nothing new. They have been used, in some variation or another, since the days of the ancient Egyptians and Syrians and perhaps even farther back. Wicker furniture appears in the early Egyptian period of 2600 BC as well as an even earlier Syrian sculpture. A wicker toilet chest was buried with an a 1600 BC Egyptian Queen. Moving later in history, wicker was widely used by the Greeks and Romans. Later still in Britain, "twigger" was the name for Wicker, and Shakespeare makes reference to wicker in his writings.

Although the first piece of wicker furniture in America came over on the Mayflower, the American wicker furniture industry really dates from the early 1850s. First, English and American traders saw peacock chairs from the Far East. Moreover, in an interesting twist, Americans importers saw rattan and reed used for packing. Usually, it was discarded until a grocer named Cyrus Wakefield brought it home and began producing chairs. The Wakefield Rattan Company enjoyed great success and was the pre-eminent producer of wicker furniture. Wakefield became a wealthy man and the town of South Reading, MA, renamed itself Wakefield in honor of his generosity and economic contribution to the town.

After the Civil War, the Heywood Brothers Company began using rattan in the making of their chairs. They also introduced automation, which reduced the cost of making wicker furniture dramatically. Before long, the Heywood Brothers Company and the Wakefield Rattan Company were fierce competitors.

Before the turn of the century, Victorian-style wicker became extremely popular. The Victorian style was highly fanciful with an abundance of curves, curlicues and intricate patterns. However, early in the 20th century, as public taste veered toward straighter lines and more simple designs in furniture, Victorian wicker began to be considered too ornate. About 1910, the Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company started designing wicker in the popular Mission style, which is back in fashion today. But in 1917, Marshal B. Lloyd invented a machine that wove man-made fiber out of chemically treated twisted paper, which could then be transferred directly from his patented "Lloyd loom" and fitted directly onto frames. Using synthetic material lowered the cost of production substantially, and the plainer designs that Lloyd used caught on quickly.

Recognizing the popularity of Lloyd's innovations, the Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company bought the Lloyd Manufacturing Company in 1921 and simplified the company name to the Heywood-Wakefield Company. Unfortunately, synthetic machine-woven wicker lost its appeal in the 1930s. The Heywood-Wakefield Company was forced to switch to wood and metal chairs. In 1979, the company stopped making furniture all together.

Wicker had a resurgence in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, however, and wicker furniture became a common sight in American homes once again. With the emerging popularity of the furniture of earlier time periods, many people wanted to recapture the actual designs of those time periods. Wicker was viewed as a clean, natural material that came to signify country living, and good health. The natural essence of wicker soon found its way to construct baby carriages, cribs and furniture.

Probably the main reason for the success of wicker though, is the simple fact that it can be enjoyed outdoors. People wanted to have furniture that could be enjoyed outdoors, whether it was in a conservatory, garden, or expansive front yard. They also began enclosing their porches and creating sun rooms. The light weight and summery feel of wicker provided the perfect ingredients for ideal beach and outdoor furniture.

Wicker continues today as an excellent choice for home furnishing, gracing bedrooms, bath, casual living areas as well as porches, yards and beach settings. Portrait photographers particular find wicker helpful as a prop. It is photogenic, has nice curves, is lightweight, often associated with babies and children and recalls a traditional look in portraiture.

Since wicker is rarely made in the USA, we contract for its production in the Philippines. We are grateful for the talent and skills of our Philippine supplier.  We have visited the factory and found the working conditions to be high quality.  Indeed, it was quite enlightening for Susan to see every phase of production, framing, reed preparation, weaving the wicker, and finishing, all on a much larger scale than her kitchen.  She and her husband Thad had done it all!   Moreover, our Philippine factory does not employ child labor, has a union and pays competitive wages.  However, we as Americans little understand the level of poverty in the the Philippines and other third world countries.  For that reason, we strive to tithe 10% of our profits to Philippines for the purpose of poverty relief and economic development. We invite you to visit our page on world poverty relief for more information.  There you will see links to world poverty relief and advocacy for international cooperation.

Over the years, Susan has developed some classic and memorable wicker props that are highly valued by studio photographers for their beauty, functionality and quality.  The props are known for the fact that they weather the hard work of many portrait sessions.  Indeed, we have heard that the name Wicker By Design makes for quick and high return on Ebay! 

The wicker line covers the range of baby, child, senior and family portraiture.  They generally can be obtained in white, whitewash and walnut/brown.  The best sellers in the wicker line include the classic christening bench, the baby bed, the wicker swings, Turkish chairs and backstand chairs.  Most of these come in white, whitewash and walnut. 

Props With Unsurpassed Quality and Unique Design
Wicker By Design strives to give prop tools that set the photographer apart from competition, whether that competition comes from other studio photographers and the general public.  The majority of the wicker, wood, willow and metal portrait photography props we sell are exclusive designs. The distinction of owning and using photo props that were originally commissioned as special requests helps to differentiate you from your competition. These are not the ordinary, mass-produced pieces you typically find throughout the Internet. For example, our Christening Bench has a cut-a-way front allowing you to frame the subject.  As a consequence, when your customers sit or use one of our photography props, they are instantly impressed by the quality and excellence that you provide.

A portrait photographer wants to delight the customer and create an environment in which the customer is energized and excited. The combination of creative talents and a collection of photography props give the portrait photographer the ability to capture poses of the most important times in their subjects lives. Photographers deliver more than a photography portrait; it is a treasured moment suspended in time.  No wonder there are true stories of families running back into a burning home to rescue the family albums.