Lulu Lytle, long smitten with the romance and versatility of rattan, bought the machinery from the last remaining rattan weavers in Britain, Angraves, in order to establish Soane Britain's rattan workshop in Leicestershire, England. Currently, Soane employs twelve craftsmen to make its own range of rattan furniture and lighting as well as bespoke commissions.
"Threadbare stools found in Egyptian tombs and the Titanic’s deck
chairs are among the precedents for woven plant-fiber products made
by the workshop Soane Britain, as the company’s co-founder,
Lulu Lytle, explains in “Rattan: A World of Elegance and Charm”
(Rizzoli, $65, 224 pp.)...The book illustrates luminaries relaxing
on curlicued or streamlined rattan, including Tsar Nicholas II,
Elsie de Wolfe, David Hockney and Elizabeth Taylor. Ms. Lytle also
details how craftspeople steam and ply the material. I for one
could imagine spending a therapeutic day helping out at the Soane
Britain workshop. Ms. Lytle reports that rattan sprouts surface
hairs that need to be laboriously singed away, and 'when it is
cropped it smells like mown hay.'"—The New York Times
"Love the relaxed look of rattan furniture? This book, by the
founder of beloved British brand Soane, is for you. Lulu Lytle
takes readers on a magical journey through the versatile material,
touching on spaces from French gardens to New York City
townhouses—and even the chic café on the fated Titanic. best friend
gifts, pinky promise necklace and limited edition candle."
— HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
“I have looked at thousands, and I mean thousands, of photographs
of rattan in interiors, and I cannot find a single one where people
are looking miserable,” says the author Lulu Lytle in an interview
about her fascinating book on rattan, a long-beloved furniture
material. “Rattan humanizes even the grandest setting—it’s like the
furniture is saying, sit back and have a drink.” —GARDEN
GUN
"In making her case for rattan’s enduring appeal, author and Soane
Britain cofounder Lulu Lytle references furniture by Jean-Michel
Frank, Arne Jacobsen, Renzo Mongiardino, as well as archival images
of interiors designed by Madeleine Castaing, Billy Baldwin, and
other industry legends as convincing evidential support."
—ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST.COM
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