There certainly is. Rattan refers to a tree or the material that the chair is made from while wicker simply refers to a production method, a chair that has been weaved out of any number of materials.

Rattan is a tree that grows like a vine. Native to Indonesia, the rattan tree starts its life growing straight up much like bamboo. It then curves towards the ground under it’s weights and continues snaking through the forest for hundreds of feet. Unlike bamboo rattan is solid and has a grain that runs up and down. These features makes it a very strong material that also happens to be very easy to bend and work with. Rattan is wet then bent into its desired shape and when dried will keep that shape forever.

Now for wicker. A wicker chair is very often made from rattan but can also be made from polyethelene, straw or any number of different pliable strands. That is to say all rattan chairs are made from rattan, many wicker chairs are made of rattan but no rattan chairs are made of wicker and many wicker chairs are not made of rattan – there’s a mouthful.