BH | Studio Kinsale Cane-Back Dining Armchair

Cane seating arrived in England in the 1660s, when split rattan woven into an open mesh came in from the East Indies, and caned chairs became the fashion of Restoration London and soon of the grand houses across the Irish Sea. Two centuries later, the bentwood café chairs of Vienna made the caned seat a fixture of coffee houses, bistros and tearooms, where it still belongs.

This is the armchair of the family. A hardwood frame with rounded edges rises into a curved back of woven rattan cane, and slim arms loop forward from the back to the front legs, giving a comfortable place to rest the elbows through a long meal. The seat is caned too, cool and lightly springy, a ring stretcher braces the legs below, and the chair is rated to hold 330 lbs. The frame has a grey-washed driftwood finish that looks soft beside the natural cane, and non-marking caps sit under the feet.

Put one at the head of a dining table, with side chairs along its length, or use it as a desk chair in a bedroom, where the open cane keeps it from looking heavy. In a living room it is an easy accent chair by a bookcase. Pale wood and cane suit a sunroom with potted palms, linen cushions and a sisal rug, or a farmhouse kitchen with a scrubbed table. This listing is for one chair.