Intricately carved furniture

HAND CRAFTED furniture and artefacts representing the various traditional wood craft skills of the country have been brought together at Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan's `exhibition-cum-sale of hand crafted furniture' which opens today at Sri Sankara Hall, TTK Road. The choice of formal sets of hand crafted furniture such as sofa sets, divans, dining tables and so on is vast. Also on display are accent furniture in the form of occasional and reg tables, accent chairs and corner tables chests.

Rosewood inlay dining tables, chests of drawers, sideboards, telephone tables, peg tables and `mandaps' from Mysore make for rich and baroque furniture items. The wealth of inlay work is intricate and flamboyant and features densely inlaid jungle scenes, animals, birds of paradise, peacocks and so on.

There is more inlay work from Saharanpur as well, with tables, chairs and screens worked with Moghul style brass inlay floral patterns. The sheesham wood furniture from Saharanpur includes sofa sets as well as `jaali' work screens and room dividers.

Walnut wood furniture carved with typical floral and vine motifs as well as the beautiful chinar is another attraction. Also on display are Kashmiri carvings on well crafted sideboards, beds, divan sets, corner stands, nests of tables and so on. Rubber wood furniture items from Kerala are also available.

New to Chennai are contemporary furniture items from Hoshiarpur. Crafted out of teakwood with rosewood finish, the chairs and casual tables, are beautifully furnished with delicate Mughal style inlay work. Done in white against a rosewood background, the inlay work has a dazzling impact.

Khadi Gramodyog's `Handcrafted Furniture and Artefacts Exhibition' offers a choice of exquisitely crafted sandalwood figures, icons and decorative pieces from Jaipur and Mysore. White metal artefacts from Jaipur are also available. The exhibition concludes on September 4.

Period pieces

Lakshmi's reproduction period furniture creates incredible look- alikes down to the last twist in the table leg, the canopy of fruity motifs in the carving, the sepia-toned flowers in the ceramic tiles, even that particular red tint in the Chinese bar stools! Shape, form, tints, carving styles, the curve of arm and leg - each is an authentic reproduction of anything ranging from French Regency style sofas to Sri Lankan settees, colonial - Raj sofa sets and Victorian what-nots, Chinese bars, Chettinad corner stands, Raj dining tables and a lot more. So authentic is the reproduction that even a connoisseur would be hard put to tell the difference between the imitation and the real period piece.

At an exhibition-cum-sale currently on at 18, Raman Street, T.Nagar, Lakshmi showcases her best. Elegant Chinese bar cabinets with matching stools rub shoulders with carved Chinese sofa sets and an incredible altar table. The rare altar table has twisted wooden legs and exquisitely carved motifs, perfect accessory furniture for the living room.

There are glass corner stands, very elegant and Victorian, lovely glass fronted almirahs, massively carved divans, Victorian dining tale sets, and so on. And for the bar fly a large variety of period English bars to choose from.

And of course there are stunningly reproduced Chettinad corner stands, set with the loveliest of tiles, full of glass and intricate, graceful carving. For those who swear by comfort, Lakshmi offers Raj colonial cane-backed sofas with the wood work mimicking slatted cane.

Enormous Chinese chests, reproduced to perfection, are on display at the exhibition-cum-sale along with a variety of occasional tables, consols, Victorian what-nots and so on.

The exhibition-cum-sale of Period Reproduction Furniture is on till September 4.

PUSHPA CHARI

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