Carved Sheesham Nesting Table Set (4 Pieces)

About this piece

Carved Sheesham Nesting Table Set (4 Pieces) — four carved sheesham tables that slide inside one another. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and carved by hand, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It measures XL 21×11.5×20.5, L 19.5×11×17.5, M 18.5×10×15, S 17.5×9×13 inches. It costs PKR 18,999. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

A set of four side tables in graduated sizes, cut and carved from solid sheesham, that slide together into the largest frame so a whole set of side tables stores in the footprint of one. The carving is what takes the time. Each top is cut freehand across its full face — the carver works outward from the centre by eye rather than from a pressed template — so the density shifts slightly across a top and no two tables in the set are identical, let alone two sets. The legs are turned on the khraad, the lathe every piece in this workshop starts on, and the aprons are shaped to let the smaller tables run in cleanly underneath. Because it is solid sheesham throughout with no board or veneer, the largest table takes a full tea tray without flexing. Pulled apart they put a surface beside every chair in a room; pushed back together they take up the space of one. That is the argument for nesting tables over four separate side tables, and it is why they end up in drawing rooms that fill up when guests arrive and empty again afterwards. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha, and carved individually, so grain, carving depth and colour tone vary between the four. Dust with a soft dry cloth and work a dry brush into the carving; keep water, polish sprays and chemical cleaners off the wood. Names, dates and Urdu or Arabic calligraphy can be engraved on any of the four tops — tell us before we begin and we confirm the spelling and the layout with you first.

Every piece is made by hand, so the wood grain, carving and colour vary a little from the photo. That variation is normal and is what makes each one its own.