Buying Indian Furniture
For rich, beautiful, and distinct furniture, you might give some thought to Indian furniture. Today, you will find some amazing pieces of Indian furniture, which are the result of British designers working closely with Indian artisans to develop better understanding of the materials and designs used for this type of classic colonial furniture. However, you can also find antique Indian furniture, which is seeping with history and very special.
The pieces of antique Indian furniture you find today are primarily from small villages found in northwest India, which is a region known at its peak during the British Empire from 1830 to 1880. From this era, you can find several styles of pillars, doors, tables, archways, chests, sideboards, and windows. While there are some pieces of Indian furniture that are still in rough shape, most have been beautifully restored to its natural state.
You will also find several pieces of Indian furniture that have been transformed into something else. As an example, window grilles and doors have now been turned into coffee tables and cupboards. Regardless of the piece, this type of colonial furniture preserves the architectural splendour of each piece. Indian artisans are known for using traditional cabinet-making skills, drawing inspiration from the region's incredible history of style and artisanship for producing top of the line furniture.
This type of hands-on approach in making Indian furniture is what makes each piece such a prized treasure. For the pieces being created today, these are often based on European and Colonial themes. The process involves using wood products from kiln-dried and ecologically sound timber. Then to enhance its appearance, a natural wax finish is applied. Although a number of woods are used for Indian furniture, the three most beautiful include Teak, Acacia, and Sheesham.
Although India is known for many fine things, it stands at the top of the list when it comes to furniture. Remember, domestic furniture as it is known in Europe today was not traditional in India prior to the 16th century. In fact, common furniture pieces such as tables and chairs were not widely used until Dutch, Portuguese, and English furniture began to spread. Interestingly, getting hold of suitable furniture was difficult for settlements, which is what encouraged European traders to begin exporting western prototypes to copy. However, it was soon discovered that while the Indians were not good or accurate at copying, they were highly skilled.
This skill coupled with an incredible imagination led to the emergence of the independent Indo-European style. The early styles of Indian furniture were split into two groups. First, there is the Indo-Portuguese group that consists of the Mughal style, also known as the northern Indian style. For this type of Indian furniture, the pieces are usually decorated with inlaid ivory or bone on dark wood or ebony. As you can imagine, the style is gorgeous.
The second of the two groups is the Indo-Portuguese style known as Goanese, which got its name after the Malabar Coast located to the south of Goa. This type of Indian furniture is large and often cumbersome. In Portugal, this style is called Contador. However, you will still find inlaid designs, which typically consist of something semiabstract of geometrical.
In either case, Indian furniture can usually be spotted between Indo-Dutch and Indo-Portuguese. Now, for Indo-Dutch style of Indian furniture, you have two types. First, there is light coloured wood that is decorated with inlaid bone, which is incised and then lacquered. This style comes primarily from the Coromandel Coast. The second is made from carved ebony, most often found in India. This Indian furniture was actually made in Batavia in Java. In most cases, the carving and decoration is in some type of floral design such as flowering trees.
Then during the 18th century, the popularity of Indian furniture began to grow. Under English influence, all styles became higher in demand. By the 19th century, you could easily see the artist's standards with a strong emphasis on decorative elaboration. Without doubt, Indian furniture shows off the magnificent skill and technical ability of the artisan. Therefore, if you buy a reproduction or are fortunate enough to get your hands on an original piece, the richness and beauty of this type of furniture is a treasure.