Cartagenas Natural Lounge Chair
Material
Wicker from Bejuco roots
Galvanized and powder coated tubular steel frame
Care instructions
Wipe clean with a dry cloth, do not use chemical cleaners on the webbing. To protect the colours, avoid exposing the product to direct sunlight over long periods. Protect the product with a cover or store it indoors during winter or harsh weather conditions. If the product is exposed to sea air, wipe the metal frame regularly with a damp cloth. Fitted cover sold separately
Ames introduces a new material to the popular Cartagenas furniture series from Sebastian Herkner: wicker. This natural material reinvents the chairs of the series, giving them a warm and calm presence. In Colombia, there’s a long history of using wicker to craft the baskets for the arrieros, the coffee pickers, who use them to collect the beans on the plantations in the country’s hinterlands.
The craftspeople in the ames ateliers apply an exceptionally intricate weaving technique to create the Cartagenas Natural pieces. The result is a particularly dense webbing made from the roots of the Bejuco, which wraps around the seat. This vine-like plant grows in the Eje Cafetero, the coffee-growing region of Colombia, where people use it to make baskets to collect coffee beans. The plant’s roots are dried in the sun and prepared for ten days to separate the bark from the inner, softer fibres. The artisans weave these fibres then by hand around the steel frame in a process that takes up to five days.
German designer Sebastian Herkner is a long-term collaborator of ames and has visited Colombia multiple times to experience the country’s cities, nature and people first hand. He also visited many of the ateliers that ames has partnered with to learn about the unique traditional crafts of Colombia's regions. A sought-after contemporary designer and recipient of many industry awards, he has worked with many international design brands, creating intriguing pieces that showcase his intuition for interesting material, colour and texture combinations.
