Golden Singhasan in Carved Teak with Lion Sides and Velvet Gaddi

The back of this singhasan is covered in leaves and stems from edge to edge, and the reason you can read every one of them under a gold finish is the background between them - which is not smooth.

Gold reflects. On a flat polished ground it throws light straight back at you as a sheet of brightness, and low relief carved on that ground disappears into the glare. It is the standard difficulty with dense ornament in gold: the more you carve, the flatter it can look.

So the ground between the leaves is punched. After the foliage is cut and before any finish goes on, the carver works over every exposed background area with a small punch, tapping it thousands of times to leave a fine even texture. That texture scatters light instead of reflecting it, so the background reads as a soft shadow while the smooth leaves above it stay bright.

It is the slowest and least interesting part of the whole job - hours of tapping over an area nobody will consciously look at. It is also the only reason the carving above it has any depth at all once the gold is on.

Frame: solid teak throughout, hand-carved and hand-turned by master Indian artisans, with traditional joinery at every junction.

Back: tall spired back with a scalloped outline, carved in allover foliate relief around a central almond medallion, with a punched background and a turned finial at the apex.

Sides: standing lions carved in the round at both ends of the platform.

Seat: low upholstered gaddi platform, supplied with a long back bolster and two tasselled side bolsters.

Platform: carved apron on turned legs.

Footstool: round upholstered stool on a carved and turned base.

Upholstery: red velvet as photographed. Any velvet or fabric can be used instead, including your own material.

Finish: hand-applied gold over the carving. Silver, champagne, antiqued tones or plain polished teak are also available.

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

Photography: images on this page are of the actual product, not renders.

The tall spired back and the two lions are the exposed elements, and they need opposite treatments - one is broad and thin, the others are compact and projecting.

A foam frame follows the entire scalloped outline of the back so any side load is taken along the edge rather than across the carved face, and the finial at the apex gets its own collar. The lions get shaped collars around head, mane and paws. The turned legs and the carved platform edge are collared individually.

A soft non-abrasive layer covers all the gilded surfaces first, so nothing coarse touches gold. Corrugated panels then build a rigid shell around the piece, with the platform blocked and braced so the weight rests on the legs rather than on the back. The footstool travels in its own carton. The outer cartons are edge-reinforced. Velvet, bolsters and stool top are wrapped in a breathable cover that keeps dust off without pressing the pile. Everything unwraps by hand.

Free PAN-India delivery covers both the singhasan and the footstool - no zone rates, no distance surcharge, no separate charge for the stool. The same cost delivered to Ajmer as to Asansol.

Dent-free arrival is guaranteed on both. They leave in multi-layer protective packaging, travel with handlers briefed on gilded and figure carving, and are checked at every transfer point. If anything is not right when you open either carton, tell us and we make it right - the guarantee rests with us, not with the transporter.

Because it is made to order, production begins once your velvet, finish and measurements are confirmed in writing. The allover relief carving on the back takes real time, so we give a realistic timeline rather than an optimistic one, with updates as the work progresses and a dispatch note with an expected delivery window. If it is needed for a particular occasion, tell us at enquiry.

The solid teak frames and joinery carry a 20-year warranty on both the singhasan and its footstool. That covers the turned legs and platform, the seat frame, the lion figures at both ends, and the tall spired back and the joints holding it upright. If a joint opens or a member fails within those twenty years, we repair or replace it.

A lifetime warranty against termite damage runs alongside it, with no end date, on both pieces. Teak's natural oils are what keep termites away, and our seasoning and finishing process is built around preserving them, so the timber is guaranteed for as long as the set is yours.

A ceremonial seat is generally kept rather than replaced, and the warranty is written for that kind of ownership. It holds because both pieces are made from start to finish in our own workshop by the master Indian artisans who build everything we sell, from timber we season ourselves. Registration is automatic with your order.