French Style Dining Table Set in Carved Teak with Fluted Legs

Fluting looks like the simplest decoration there is, and it is the one that exposes a workshop fastest. A flute is a straight groove of constant depth, and the eye can measure a straight groove against its neighbour without any effort at all.

Three things have to be right. The flutes must be evenly spaced around the leg - which sounds obvious until you consider that a turned leg tapers, so equal spacing at the top gives unequal spacing at the bottom unless it is set out from the taper rather than from a fixed dimension. The depth must be constant along the length, on a surface that is getting narrower as it goes. And the stops - where each flute ends, top and bottom - must line up across all four legs, or the set looks as though it is standing on different floors.

So the legs are cut in a jig that indexes the spacing off the leg's own diameter at each point and sets the stop heights from a single reference. All four legs of the table, and all the chair legs, are stopped from that same reference.

The ends of the flutes are then finished by hand, rounded off rather than left as a machine's exit mark, because that little rounded stop is what tells you a person made it.

On a set this plain, there is nowhere for a mistake to hide. That is the point of building it this way.

Set: one dining table with six chairs, made together as one commission.

Frames: solid teak throughout, hand-carved by master Indian artisans.

Top: polished timber with a moulded edge.

Frame: ivory painted apron with carved paterae at each corner block.

Legs: turned, tapered and fluted, with the spacing indexed off the taper, constant depth along the length, stops set from a single reference across every leg and rounded off by hand.

Chairs: oval medallion backs with upholstered panels inside moulded frames, fluted legs matching the table.

Upholstery: woven damask as photographed; any fabric or leather available.

Finish: two-tone polished top with ivory painted frame; all-painted or all-polished also available.

Joinery: mortise and tenon throughout, corner-blocked at every seat rail.

Dimensions: custom sizes made to order - final measurements confirmed in writing before production.

A polished top scratches from grit rather than impact, so it is wiped clean and wrapped in soft non-abrasive sheeting before any firmer material goes near it, with a rigid board across its full face and the moulded edge padded continuously round the whole perimeter.

Fluted legs have sharp arrises between the flutes, and those arrises bruise easily. Each leg is padded along its full length rather than only at the foot.

Chairs are crated individually and never nested, with each medallion panel covered in soft sheeting and the moulded back frames padded to their own outlines.

Unpack the chairs first, then the table. Nothing needs dismantling and no fixing has to be undone.

Delivery is free anywhere in India for the whole set, and every piece is guaranteed to arrive dent-free. If anything is wrong when the crates are opened, correcting it is our cost, and we commit to that before you order.

Production begins once the table size, chair count, upholstery and finish are confirmed in writing. Table and chairs are made together and dispatched together, which is what keeps the flute stops referenced to one setting across the whole set.

Dispatch waits for the polish and paint to cure fully. We share the schedule at confirmation, update you as each stage completes, and send tracking as soon as the crates leave us.

Open the crates with the delivery team present and check every piece. Send us your doorway, lift and stair measurements at the order stage and we set the top size to a dimension that will reach the room.

Every frame in the set carries a 20-year warranty on solid teak frame and joinery - the table and all six chairs on identical terms. On a set with slender fluted legs, the joints are what the warranty is really about, and they are corner-blocked accordingly.

A lifetime warranty against termite damage runs on every piece, resting on teak's own oils rather than on an applied treatment, and issued in writing with the set.

Both documents are tied to your order and handed over on delivery, so the record stays with you. If a covered fault appears on one piece, send photographs and we repair or replace that piece alone.

Upholstery and finishes are wearing surfaces and are handled separately. A polished timber top can be sanded back and re-polished to new condition, painted frames can be re-laid, and we re-cover our own chairs at any age with your specification kept on file.