'Kosh' Bin Planter with Metal Liner in Printed Wood

Provenance

The Kosh bin planter belongs to the North Indian tradition of decorative woodware — wooden forms treated with surface print and sealed under a waterproof finish. The technique is screen or digitally-applied printing on a prepared wood surface, sealed under lacquer. 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 including storage and planting vessels.

The fitted metal liner distinguishes Kosh from a purely decorative object: the liner makes the wooden shell genuinely functional as a planter without risk of water damage to the printed wood exterior. The metal inner vessel holds soil or a potted plant; the decorated wood exterior carries the ornamental surface. This combination — the functional core, the decorative shell — is characteristic of how North Indian workshops have always treated the domestic object: the interior holds, the exterior declares. Kosh in Sanskrit names the treasury or vessel — the sheath or case that holds and protects something of value.

The waterproof printed surface suits everyday use; the metal liner handles plant moisture. Each piece is individually handcrafted; print placement and colour tone may vary slightly between pieces.

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 registration or surface texture should be understood as the signature of individual craft, not a defect.