Name/Title
Cane ChairsEntry/Object ID
2019.16.1 A-BDescription
Two brown wooden cane bottom chairs. Each chair has four spindles on the back and has tapered legs. A modern label on the reverse of each of the chairs reads, "This Chair Belonged To Dr. And Mrs. James Woodrow."Use
Since the seventeenth century, cane chairs have been used in dramatically different social settings, ranging from palaces and theaters to college apartments and roadside diners. Caning—most easily recognized as an octagonal web of wicker—is made from an inexpensive, vine-like palm and can easily be replaced. In these two examples, the caning has been secured to the base of a lightweight chair with a hand opening in the back. These features make the relatively comfortable and affordable chair easy to move.Context
These chairs were owned by Woodrow Wilson’s maternal aunt and uncle, Dr. James (1828–1907) and Felie Baker Woodrow (1837–1928). They were passed down through the Woodrow family and donated to Historic Columbia in 2019.Made/Created
Date made
circa 1850 - circa 1870
