Welcome!
I strive to do quality, professional restoration for each and every client through my attention to detail, accurate craftsmanship, and honing my skills and knowledge over the past 25+ years. This is a part-time home business by appointment. Located in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio.
Estimates + Appointments
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​UPDATE - AUGUST 2024:
Due to a multi-year wait list, I am not currently accepting new work or replying with quotes or info at this time.  
Referrals
Thank you for your interest! 

IN THE NEWS!
October 2021 Article In
The Columbus Dispatch 

A Tweet by a client caught the eye of The Columbus Dispatch reporter Allison Ward. I was contacted for an interview about my business, my family history in seat weaving, and why it is *not* a dying craft.
Proud to have my dad, Bill of the former Bill's Chair Caning & Rushing, be a part of the interview as well. He has been retired now for 10 years, but enjoys seeing what I'm working on. Check out the article and photos HERE!

About Emza

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2015 - celebrating 20th year caning
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The first chair - 1995
E. Emza Uphill is a 3rd generation master furniture weaver with over 2 decades of experience. At the age of 14 she started apprenticing under her father Bill, of the former Bill's Caning & Rushing, who learned the craft from his grandfather. First learning how to hand cane, then sheet cane, and rush weave chairs, canoe panels, and other functional items. Once she mastered those techniques she took on Splint, Danish Cord, Danish Peel, Shaker Tape, Hickory, and advanced techniques in Caning.

Emza was born and raised right here in Clintonville. She received her BFA from The Ohio State University and a MFA from University of Colorado at Boulder. There she taught 3 years of undergraduate 2D, 3D and time based art. Both in her studio practice and in teaching, Emza has had an emphasis on craftsmanship and perfection of finished work- seen and unseen. These qualities have continued on into her weaving work.

Her favorite pieces to restore are the challenging Hans Wegner, Niels Otto Møller, and Danish Modern chairs. Most require extensive knowledge of traditional techniques, but because of their often "one off" weaving design they also require the ability to apply known skills with reverse engineering. 

Emza also enjoys family heirlooms and the special stories and histories that come with them. She considers it an honor to help facilitate the restoration of these pieces to live on for future generations.

You can be confident that your pieces of furniture will be in skillful hands!
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The SeatWeavers' Guild, Inc.​
​Vice President and
Member of the Board 2016-2018,
Educator.
Member since 2015.
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Members of the Board 2016
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My Danish Cord Workshop at The SeatWeavers' Guild Annual Gathering 2016 Asheville, NC
More about the 2016 Annual Gathering at the Southern Highland Craft Guild's Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC - along the Blue Ridge Parkway! - HERE
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Find Me In Columbus Monthly
I  was a featured repair and restoration expert for Caning in Columbus Monthly's February 2014 edition cover story about household repairs.

Why "Emza"?

Emza is a very unique and old female name and has been passed down generation to generation in my family since the early 1800s (as far as we have traced back). When I started my own business I found it fitting to use my middle name Emza- a sentimental and heirloom name to match many of the family pieces that come through my workshop. Currently my daughter and myself are the only living Emzas' in our family. 
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Emza Maria Campbell Castello 1865
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Myself, Great Aunt Luella Emza Yates, and Great Grandmother Emza Bruney with the "Emza Quilt" c. 1994
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My Daughter Mina Emza Uphill - the next weaver? 2015

Bill's Chair Caning & Rushing

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Many of my clients remember Bill's Chair Caning and Rushing, which was my father Bill Seib's business for 40 years before he retired in early 2012. He operated out of his home workshop in Columbus, Ohio and focused mainly on Caning and Rushing, but also took on special projects. Bill learned how to cane from his grandfather and learned to rush on his own. He taught my mother and I how to cane to help him out during busy seasons. Now he is enjoying retirement and being a grandparent of 5!
"Chairs are documents and Caners are historians that preserve centuries of designs and techniques." -Benno Forman, (American Seating Furniture 1630-1730)
Emza's Chair Caning and Weaving Columbus, Ohio. By appointment at: (614)906-4363