Baroque Mirror in Gilded Teak with Deep Acanthus Carving

Deep foliage carving is built backwards. The first thing established is not a leaf but the ground behind all of them.

A surround like this has three or four layers of acanthus overlapping one another, and each leaf has to sit convincingly in front of or behind its neighbours. If the carver starts with the leaves that will end up in front - the obvious place to begin, because they are the ones you see - there is no way to know how much depth is left for everything behind them. By the third layer the timber has run out, and the back leaves get flattened into the ground.

So the deepest ground is cut first, right down to its final level, all the way around the frame. That fixes the total depth available. Then the layers are worked forward towards the surface, one plane at a time, with each layer completed all round the frame before the next is begun.

It means the frame looks unfinished for most of the time it is being carved - a set of vague masses at different depths, with no detail on any of them - and only becomes foliage in the last stage.

It also means the leaves at the back are as fully modelled as the ones in front, which is what gives the shadows their depth.

Material: solid teak in the frame, foliage, crest, base scrolls and back structure.

Carving: acanthus foliage worked in several overlapping layers, with the deepest ground established first and the planes brought forward in stages.

Crest: plume rising from the foliage at the top.

Base: two large carved scrolls with leaf between them.

Glass: plain rectangular plate within a beaded moulding.

Back: solid structure carrying the hanging fixings.

Finish: gilded by hand, raised faces burnished brighter than the grounds so the layers separate.

Made to order: size, carving depth, plate proportion and finish are all customisable. Custom sizes made to order - final measurements confirmed in writing before production.

Layered foliage has leaf tips standing at several different depths, and the ones nearest the surface are the ones that catch.

Rather than wrapping over the carving, foam is built up in pieces into the hollows between the layers, so the surface leaves are supported from beneath at their own level and nothing bears on a tip.

Acid-free tissue is laid over the gilding before any foam touches it.

The plume crest and both base scrolls project furthest and are given their own moulded blocks.

The plate is taped in a grid across its face, foam-faced and covered with a rigid board.

The mirror travels flat in a hardwood crate with corner protection at every arris and clear orientation marking. Multi-layer protective packaging is included on every order at no extra cost.

Delivery is free anywhere in India, with guaranteed dent-free arrival. No distance charge, no size charge and no handling fee.

Production begins once your dimensions are confirmed in writing - and we agree the depth of the carving as well as the size, since depth is what this design is about and it can be worked richer or shallower.

We photograph your actual mirror through the build, including the frame at the rough-ground stage before the layers are brought forward, which is worth seeing.

On site, our team unpacks it flat, marks the fixings and hangs it level.

Send us lift dimensions, stair turns and doorway widths ahead of dispatch so the route can be planned. Every photograph on this page is of the actual product, not a render.

The solid teak frame and joinery carry a 20-year warranty - the frame members, the carved foliage, the crest, the base scrolls and the back structure.

A lifetime warranty against termite damage runs with the mirror and never expires. Teak's natural oils are its own defence and our warranty stands behind them.

The mirror plate and the hanging fixings are covered against manufacturing defect.

Deep foliage is repairable carving: a broken leaf tip can be replaced and re-carved into the layer it belongs to. The carving depths and the gilding specification for your mirror are recorded against your order number so that work matches. Contact us and we will arrange it.