'Shweta' Wooden Napkin Holder in Printed Wood — Ivory

Provenance

The Shweta napkin holder belongs to the North Indian tradition of decorative woodware — wooden forms treated with surface print to produce objects that are functional and decorative in equal measure. The technique is screen or digitally-applied printing on a prepared wood surface, sealed for durability. The tradition comes from workshops in Delhi NCR and western Uttar Pradesh, where artisans adapt the vocabulary of India's painted woodwork to contemporary domestic forms.

The surface of Shweta works through restraint rather than density — an ivory ground set against a jewelled ornamental print. The pale field carries the decorative print quietly; the ornament is visible at close range, warm and luminous from a distance. The ivory palette belongs to the Sanskrit aesthetic vocabulary of shweta — the specifically warm, living paleness that is not cold white but the luminosity of natural materials: the inside of a shell, natural linen, the jasmine blossom. The jewelled print draws from the vocabulary of Indian ornamental tradition — the faceted gem, the kundan setting, the surface ornamented with concentrated points of pattern.

The waterproof surface is suited to everyday table use. Each piece is individually handcrafted; print placement and colour tone may vary slightly between pieces as a natural feature of the process.

Disclaimer

• These pieces are handcrafted in wood with a printed surface. Variations in tone and colour are a natural feature of the process.
• Minor differences in print placement should be understood as the signature of individual craft, not a defect.