Velvet Diwan in Gold Leaf Teak with Buttoned Maroon Back

Under the gold on this frame there is a layer of coloured clay, and its colour is chosen for what will happen to the diwan in twenty years rather than for how it looks today.

Traditional gilding is not laid on bare timber. The wood is prepared, then coated with a fine clay ground called bole, and the gold is laid onto that. The bole is what allows the gold to be burnished to a hard brightness - but it is also what will show through when, eventually, the gold wears at the places hands and sleeves touch: the tops of the arm scrolls, the crest of the back, the outer edge of the apron.

Choose a cool grey bole and those worn edges will one day read as pale and thin against the gold around them. Choose a warm red-brown bole and the same wear reads as depth - a warm line under the gold that looks like age rather than damage. Antique gilded furniture is admired for exactly that effect.

So the bole on this diwan is mixed warm, and it is laid heaviest on the parts most likely to be touched. Nobody sees it on the day it arrives. That is the point of it.

Frame: solid teak throughout, hand-carved, with hand-applied gold leaf over a warm-toned bole ground.

Back: deep buttoned across the full sweep, rising to a pierced carved crest at the head.

Seat: single full-length piped cushion on a sprung and webbed platform.

Arms: carved scrolled arms at both ends.

Apron: pierced carved apron running the full length below the seat, with a central rosette.

Legs: hand-shaped carved legs.

Handing: built with the high back to the left or the right, to your requirement.

Finish: gold leaf with raised carving burnished brighter than the grounds.

Made to order: length, back height, seat depth, handing, finish and covering are all customisable. Custom sizes made to order - final measurements confirmed in writing before production.

Gold leaf and velvet both mark easily, and neither can be protected the way the other needs, so they are wrapped separately.

Every gilded surface takes acid-free tissue directly against the gold - nothing textured, no tape, no printed paper - then foam padding shaped along each moulding, then bubble wrap. The pierced crest and the pierced apron are supported with foam pressed into their openings so the carving is braced from behind, then blocked individually.

The velvet back and seat are wrapped in breathable cloth laid with the pile, then in soft polythene, with no pressure applied to the buttoned face.

Legs are detached where the design allows, sleeved in foam and boxed with blocking at the ankle.

The diwan then travels in a hardwood crate with corner protection at every arris and orientation and lift points marked. Multi-layer protective packaging is included on every order at no extra cost.

Delivery is free anywhere in India and dent-free arrival is guaranteed. Nothing is charged for distance, size or handling.

Production begins once your length, handing and covering are confirmed in writing. We photograph your actual diwan through the build - the frame in the white, the carving, the bole ground laid, the gold leaf applied and burnished, the buttoning pulled, and the finished piece.

On delivery our team carries the diwan in, fits the legs if they have travelled separately, and sets and levels it in position.

Send us lift dimensions, stair turns and doorway widths before 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 seat rails, the back frame, the crest, the arm frames, the apron and the leg joints, together with every joint between them.

A lifetime warranty against termite damage runs with the diwan and never expires. Teak's natural oils protect it from within and our warranty stands behind that.

The sprung and webbed seat platform and the buttoning work are covered against manufacturing defect.

The gilding materials - including the bole colour - and the covering used on your diwan are recorded against your order number. Gilding is repairable by hand, and having the original ground and leaf on file is what allows a repair to disappear into the surface around it rather than sit on top of it. Contact us with your order number and we will arrange it.