The essay illustrates a particular aspect of furniture on board ships, that of the use of vegetable fiber furniture. The author briefly illustrates the events that have seen, at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the spread of wicker and rattan furniture following the interest in oriental countries. Rattan furniture are widely used in the verandas of the upper classes of ocean liners, where they are used to reconstruct the appearance of the winter gardens of residences and large continental hotels. The author offers some examples, among many possible, of Italian ships, steamships and ocean liners, from the beginning of the century to the 1930s. The events that link the spread of this particular type of furniture to the success of specialized Italian producers are also illustrated.
