Every piece of furniture tells its own story. The Home Décor exhibition presents a slice of furniture history ranging from Rajasthan’s royal three–seaters embellished with dazzling sheet art, rosewood Raj sofa sets, sheesham wood almirahs and cupboards with antique carving, to the grandeur of Mysore rosewood furniture replete with multi-hued inlay work.
A bullock cart morphed into a display cabinet is ingenuity at its best while a range of occasional tables sport colourful tiles, dhokra work figurines and handmade fabric. Stunning hand-embroidered rugs, kilims and dhurries provide a perfect foil to the furniture.
Intricate work
S. Shabeer from Mysore, inlay work artisan, has created a 8 ft x 4 ft rosewood, inlay work dining table set for the exhibition. The table top inlaid with intricate inlay work depictMysore’s Dusshera procession. A panorama of caparisoned elephants and turbaned riders, musicians and women clad in colourful dresses walk in stately procession. Every detail is brought out in exquisite inlay work in multi-coloured wood. A border of marching elephants completes the picture.
“Inlay work, which was greatly sought after in the Raj era is the joint effort of eight artisans,” says Shabeer pointing to the oval table. “In fact the table and chairs too are the joint work of carpenters, artisans and polishers. The process begins with cutting the rosewood into two ft long strips and piecing them together with araldite (a type of glue). We do the drawing first on oil paper spread on the table top after which we place wooden pieces in different colours on the drawing and cut them according to the design. Markings are made on the rosewood surface followed by engraving and scooping. The coloured wooden pieces are placed in the scooped spaces and cut with araldite. Sandpapering is then done followed by a coat of honey wax. We then do the detailing of eyes and mouth with special tools. Honey wax mixed with black is again applied on the outline of the detailing and finally with one more rub of sand paper we are done.”
A stately rosewood sofa set featuring inlay work elephants and small tables are part of the inlay work collection. The drawing room furniture includes impressive three-piece sets with brass sheet work and ethnic sofas in teak wood inset with colourful tiles.
Classic Kashmiri woollen and silk carpets along with outstanding dhurries and hand embroidered zari and zardosi wall hangings complete the Home Décor picture. The exhibition is on at the Cottage Industries Emporium, Temple Towers, Near Nandanam, Anna Salai, Teynampet , till August 7.
