Antique Mid 19th Century Indian Furniture.
INDIA
UNTIL THE 19TH CENTURY, artistic
depictions of domestic Indian interiors tended to portray very little furniture. A low, canopied bed, a small dressing table, and a chest were quite often the only pieces present in such images. The throne chair, a staple form in most world cultures, was a symbol of prestige and had more currency as a ceremonial object than as a piece of domestic furniture.
Even the wealthiest of the Indian elite had very sparsely furnished homes until the 19th century when they became influenced by European colonialists, whose opulent lifestyles they eagerly imitated.
A UNION OF TWO TRADITIONS The ease with which Indian wood workers turned their hands to producing furniture in European forms was astounding. Fanny Parks, a British traveller, published a journal in 1850 that included an account of how an Indian carpenter constructed a table from a model she had made from river mud.
The Dutch had encouraged Indian craftsmen to make furniture for export during the 17th century, establishing a tradition that was to flourish as the British consolidated their grip on the subcontinent. As more and more British citizens arrived in India,
demand for furniture that was similar to that which they had used at home increased steadily.
From the mid 19th century, a new style of furniture that came to be known as Anglo-Indian began to evolve. Indian cabinet-makers were quick to adopt British forms, such as the cabinet-on-stand, or the
armchair, but they transformed them into something entirely new through the application of decorative elements drawn from their own culture. The use of surface decoration was profuse – it is not uncommon for every available surface of a table to feature
elaborate openwork carving or intricately patterned inlays.
A WEALTH OF RESOURCES
The practitioners of the Anglo-Indian style had a huge creative resource available to them in the shape of India’s diverse and rich cultural heritage. Devotional carvings from sacred sites, such as the Buddhist monuments at Sanchi, were
incorporated into furniture design.
The great natural bounty of India had an equally important role to play. Although timber from the Far East was imported, the majority of Indian furniture was constructed from teak, rosewood, ebony and padouk, all of
which was harvested locally. Ivory was widely available and craftsmen used it frequently as an inlay material, carving it with intricate designs before applying dark shellac varnish to enhance the decoration. It was not unheard of for chairs and other smaller items to be hewn from solid ivory. Even elephant or rhinoceros feet were incorporated into some of the more outlandish furniture designs of the mid-19th century.
STYLES OF DECORATION
Cheaper alternatives to ivory-inlaid furniture were pieces decorated with penwork. Regional centres throughout India soon developed their own specialities. The town of Vizagapatam became famous for its wood and quillwork ornamental boxes, while Baharampur – notable as the flashpoint of the Indian Mutiny in 1857 – was renowned for the skill of its carvers. The care taken by Indian
craftsmen was most evident in the ornament of the furniture they created. By contrast, hidden areas, such as the tops of cabinet doors, would often be finished somewhat roughly and bear visible tool marks.
NLAID LOW TABLE
This is one of a pair of rare horseshoe armchairs made of huanghuali, the Chinese name for rosewood. It has a U-shaped, bamboo form, a carved top rail, a cane seat, and a lattice splat. The top rail and legs have been carved to simulate the, apperance of bamboo. S&K
This black-lacquered wooden low table of rectangular form is inlaid with mother-of-pearl and hard stones, depicting a rural scene. The image includes a pavilion and figures within a walled garden on a black ground. The table is supported on similarly decorated cabriole legs, terminating in paw feet.