Indian Carved Wooden Beds

We have a long standing enthusiasm for the woodcarvings of India and we've designed 4 carved sheshamwood beds that are made by a Bishnoi family in Rajasthan.

Our carved Indian sheshamwood beds are flat packed so they easily go up stairs for assembly in your bedroom. Assembly is easy and takes no more than 30 minutes. Sheshamwood is often called Indian rosewood. It's a dense hardwood with beautiful, rich reddish brown grain. Paler streaks of sapwood are stained to match the darker heartwood.

The Raj sheshamwood bed features a row of stylised palm tress along the headboard and footboard. The inspiration for the Shalimar Indian bed was a floral chain pattern which runs along the headboard and footboard and up the legs of the bed. The Kandahar and Khyber carved wooden beds are related, in fact the only difference is that the Khyber bed has a higher headboard for people who like more pillows. A geometric pattern taken from an Indian toran (an embroidered cloth placed over a doorway, particularly in the Thar desert regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat) runs along the headboard and footboard of these beds. The legs are decorated with a geometric pattern taken from an old chair from the Nuristan valley in Afghanistan. Nuristan is famous for woodcarving - all the houses are built of wood and heavily carved with images. Until conversion to Islam in the 19th Century, Nursitan was known as Kafiristan - land of the unbelievers. Nuristan means Kingdom of Light. After conversion, the Nuristanis were forbidden to carve the human images but the carving on the sides of the legs shows a cleverly concealed human form within the geometric pattern.

To see the carved sheshamwood bedside tables which match the Indian beds, click here. To see all our wooden beds on one page, click here.

The Bishnoi are famous for their wildlife conservation - in the 16th century they surrounded sacred trees in their forest to prevent a Maharaja felling them to build a new palace. Over 300 Bishnoi were killed before the Maharaja, intrigued by their beliefs, stopped the felling.

Wild trees in the forests are still protected, but the Bishnoi also grow separate plantation timber for buildings and furniture. They're active conservationists. They stop hunters from killing animals on their lands and it's not unusual to see antelopes and rabbits wandering fearlessly around
their villages; the thorn bushes which they've planted to mark out their fields have reduced the encroachment of the Thar desert.

There are about 6 million Bishnoi across India including a large community, and the family we know, who live near Jodhpur.
Click here to see photos of Jodhpur and the Bishnoi villages.

In India we also design cotton and silk bedding. We combine modern design ideas with traditional Indian textile skills to make duvet covers, quilts and bedspreads that are perfect companions to our Indian beds - and, in fact, all our beds! Click here for Indian bed linen.