Naqshi Nesting Table Set — Teal (4 Pieces)

About this piece

Naqshi Nesting Table Set — Teal (4 Pieces): four stacking tables in teal and gold lac. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and coloured lac and finished in naqshi lac, the pattern scratched back through the colour, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It costs PKR 14,000. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

The four-piece stacking set finished in teal lac with a gold-toned border, the pattern cut back through the colour by hand with the sathrī, the iron tool that opens the furrow. Teal is the hardest of the workshop colours to keep consistent. It is mixed rather than used straight, so two batches will not match unless they are laid down together — which is why a set of four tops has to be lacquered in one session and why a replacement table for a set bought last year would never quite sit right beside the others. The gold border is worked after the teal and framed to the edge of each top, holding the colour in the way a mount holds a print. Sheesham frames and turned legs carry the tops, and the four step down in size so they store inside one another between uses. Out, they put a surface beside every seat in a room; away, they take the floor space of a single side table. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha, and cut individually, so no two tops carry the same pattern. Dust with a soft dry cloth, keep water and polish sprays off the lac, and keep the set out of direct sunlight so the teal holds its depth.

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.