Splint Type Chair Weaving

Once upon a time, chairs with splint-woven seats and backs were considered ugly-ducklings beside furniture with delicate cane work. Then the country look became popular and the antique world reappraised its opinion of sturdy, lovely splint-woven furniture. This video contains step-by-step instruction for rattan, oak, ash and hickory splint weaving, as well as cotton "Shaker tape." The camera work is very good, letting the viewer see exactly what skilled demonstrator Linda Hickman is doing, and the on-screen graphics are excellent (though it would have been nice to include the materials' measuring formulae on the blank back of the video box). Several weaving patterns are shown and discussed, and the impact of color selection on the Shaker tape projects is touched upon. Libraries serving woodworkers and antique-hunters will want to have this video on hand. A caveat: unfortunately, three other titles in the chair-seat weaving series are advertised at both the beginning and the end of the tape; buying this one title might lead to requests for the others. Librarians with small collections and limited budgets should consider this possibility in advance. Recommended. (R. Reagan)