Vintage Dining Table Set in Carved Teak with Tapestry Seats

A tapestry seat is not upholstery in the usual sense. It is a picture, and a picture has a centre, a top and a bottom - which means the cutting is a different job entirely from cutting a plain cloth or an all-over pattern.

The trap is centring it on the panel. A seat is cut as a flat piece of cloth, but the seat it will cover is not flat and not rectangular - it is domed, wider at the front than the back, and its front edge rolls over and disappears from view. Centre the motif on the flat cutting pattern and it ends up sitting low and back on the finished chair, because the front of the cloth has been consumed by the roll and the dome has pulled the whole thing forward.

So the motif is centred on the finished seat, not on the panel. The upholsterer builds the seat first, marks the true visual centre on the completed dome from a standing position - which is how it will actually be seen - and then works backwards to find where the motif must sit on the flat cloth to land there.

Across eight chairs it is done from one measurement rather than eight, so all eight roses sit in the same place. The first chair is upholstered, checked from standing height, and the position is then fixed for the rest of the set.

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

Frames: solid teak throughout, hand-carved by master Indian artisans, gilded over the whole set.

Top: protective glass over the timber top, with a deeply carved and pierced frieze beneath.

Legs: carved cabriole, with a shell-carved centre skirt.

Chairs: tall pierced carved backs with an oval cartouche at the centre, shaped seats.

Tapestry seats: motif centred on the finished domed seat as seen from standing height rather than on the flat cutting panel, with the position fixed from the first chair and repeated across the set.

Upholstery: woven rose tapestry as photographed; plain cloths and any fabric or leather available.

Finish: hand-laid gold throughout; silver, painted grounds and natural teak also available.

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

Gold leaf marks under pressure, so the first layer on every piece is soft non-abrasive sheeting laid on rather than pulled tight - and on a fully gilded set that applies to every surface, not just the carving.

The pierced backs are packed with shaped foam set into the openings of the carving so strapping bears on solid timber. Chairs are crated individually and never nested.

The tapestry seats are covered separately with a soft sheet, since a woven picture shows a pressure mark more readily than a flat weave. The table's glass travels in its own crate; the pierced frieze is packed with foam set into its openings and the cabriole knees padded individually.

Unpack the chairs first, then the table, then set the glass with two people.

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. On a tapestry set the first chair is upholstered and checked before the remaining seven are cut, so the motif position is fixed for the whole set - we build that step into the schedule.

Dispatch waits for the gilding to cure fully. We update you as each stage completes and send tracking as soon as the crates leave us.

Open every crate with the delivery team present, including the glass, and check each 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 eight chairs on identical terms. The pierced backs are carved from the solid and are covered with the rest.

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. If a covered fault appears on one chair, send photographs and we repair or replace that chair alone.

Tapestry, glass and gilding are wearing surfaces handled separately. Seats wear before anything else on a dining set; we re-cover them at any age, and the motif position measured from your first chair stays on file so a re-covered seat matches the other seven.