'Nigar' Coaster Set of 6 in Printed Wood

Provenance

The Nigar coasters belong to the North Indian tradition of decorative woodware — wooden forms treated with surface print and sealed under a waterproof lacquer to produce objects that are functional and decorative in equal measure. Each coaster is individually cut in wood, its surface printed with a garden ornamental pattern and sealed under lacquer. The tradition comes from workshops in Delhi NCR and western Uttar Pradesh, where artisans adapt the vocabulary of India's painted and lacquered woodwork traditions to contemporary domestic forms.

The surface print on Nigar draws from the tradition of Rajasthani haveli mural painting — specifically the garden vocabularies of the Shekhawati painted mansions, where flowers, birds, and garden forms were arranged in dense, bold-ground murals across the painted interiors of merchant houses in Nawalgarh, Mandawa, and Fatehpur. The chinar bagh — the garden of chinar trees (Platanus orientalis) — references the Kashmiri and Mughal garden tradition where the chinar, planted in formal rows beside water channels, became the emblem of the ordered pleasure garden. The gilt edge on each coaster holds the garden composition within a clean perimeter, as a manuscript border holds its illustrated scene.

The waterproof surface makes these handmade coasters suited to everyday use. The set of six decorative coasters is supplied in a matching storage box. Each piece is individually handcrafted; print placement and colour tone may vary slightly between pieces.

Disclaimer

• These coasters 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.