Hand Painted Bed in Carved Teak - Ivory and Gold with Red Panels

Painted furniture has a longer history in India than almost anywhere, and it comes from the same workshops as miniature painting. The pigments, the squirrel-hair brushes and the habit of building a picture in thin translucent layers all moved from paper onto wood without much change, which is why hand-painted Indian furniture has a delicacy that stencilled or transferred decoration never achieves.

The technique matters. A painted spray is built up rather than filled in: a pale underlayer establishes the shape, then successive thin coats deepen it, and the highlights go on last in a few strokes. That is what gives a painted rose its roundness on a flat surface.

Placing the painting is its own decision. Our master Indian artisans set the sprays so they grow outward from the carved centre and thin towards the corners, mirroring what a real spray does, rather than repeating one motif at even intervals. Nothing on this bed is stencilled, which is also why the left and right of the footboard are close cousins rather than identical twins.

Material: Solid teak throughout, including headboard, footboard, rails and the bedside chests.

Footboard: Hand-painted floral sprays on an ivory ground within carved and gilded borders, carved centre cartouche, fine gold lining along the mouldings.

Headboard: Three shaped upholstered panels in gilded moulded frames, carved scroll and leaf surround, stepped centre crest rising to a carved urn.

Upholstery: Shown in deep red velvet, and made in any fabric and colour you choose.

Painting: Motif, palette and density painted to your brief, with a sample panel prepared for your approval.

Finish: Ivory ground with gold on the raised carving, and available in white, blush or pale grey grounds with gilding full or reduced to fine lines.

Bedside chests: Painted and gilded to match. Included as shown, available in any quantity.

Sizes: Custom sizes made to order - final measurements confirmed in writing before production.

A painted surface needs a different kind of care from a carved one, because the risk is scuffing rather than breakage. The painted footboard is covered first in a soft, completely non-abrasive layer laid on without tension, so nothing can rub across the sprays or the fine gold lining.

The carved centre cartouche, which stands proud of the painted ground, is given its own foam shell so no packing presses down onto the painting around it.

The headboard crest is foam-faced through its stepped sections and its carved urn collared separately. The velvet panels are bagged in breathable covers so the pile stays clean.

Cabriole feet are collared individually, rails bundled and edge-guarded, fittings sealed in a labelled pouch. The chests travel with drawers secured and painted fronts covered the same way as the footboard. Everything is crated together with handling instructions. Every photograph here is of the actual bed, taken before packing - not a render.

Delivery is free anywhere in India and included in the quoted price, with no freight, packing or handling charge added afterwards.

Production begins once your size, fabric, painting brief and finish are confirmed in writing. We paint a sample panel for your approval first, then give you a realistic timeline and send photographs of your own bed as the carving, painting and upholstery are done.

On arrival the bed is carried in and assembled in your bedroom: headboard and footboard joined to the rails, everything levelled to your floor, the painted surfaces checked over, and the bedside chests placed where you want them. We guarantee dent-free arrival, and if anything is not right when you see it, tell us and we will put it right.

The solid teak frame and joinery of this bed are covered for 20 years - the headboard structure, the footboard panel, the side rails, the cabriole feet and every joint between them. A painted surface is only as good as the panel beneath it, so the panel is what the warranty stands behind.

A lifetime warranty against termite damage runs with it for as long as you own the bed, backed by teak's natural resistance and set out in writing.

Painting can be renewed or added to later, which is one of the pleasures of owning a hand-painted piece: the same artisans can retouch, deepen or extend the work, and because we keep the specification and the painting brief for your exact bed on file, anything done later matches what is already there. The velvet panels can be re-covered to the same shaped line, and the gilding refreshed. We tell you what any work involves and how long it takes before we begin.