France could not get enough bamboo in the late 1800s, and even the humble coat rack by the door got the look, turned from solid wood to pass for the real cane. Found in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, this long rack runs a bar carved with bamboo nodes along a row of seven round wooden pegs, hung from the wall by small iron keyhole plates and painted a soft cream now worn and chipped at the edges. The French called the trick bambou tourné, turned bamboo, born of a craze for Japan that put the look of cane on everything from wardrobes to the hooks in the hall. Sylvie hangs it by the back door, a market basket on one peg and a straw hat on the next.
