Anglo-Indian Carved Folding Table – Ebonized Wood, c.1900

There are side tables, and then there is this. This is an Anglo-Indian hand-carved folding table from around 1900, and it is the kind of object that makes people stop mid-conversation and say "wait, what is that?" — which is, frankly, the highest compliment a piece of furniture can receive.

The top is a scalloped flower shape — eight lobes radiating outward from the centre like a giant wooden bloom — finished in deep ebonized wood that has developed a beautiful dark patina over more than a century of existence. Underneath, three iron brackets hold the top together and a small paper label survives, which is either a price tag from a long-ago antique dealer or a note from the original craftsman. We prefer to think it's the latter.

The base is where things get truly extraordinary. Three folding legs, each one a tour de force of pierced and relief-carved woodwork: large stylised birds perched among dense foliage, acanthus leaves curling in every direction, beaded borders running along every edge, and fine stippled dot-work filling every surface that the birds and leaves haven't already claimed. The legs fold flat for storage or transport, held by small brass hinges — a practical solution that somehow makes the whole thing even more impressive.

This is Anglo-Indian craftsmanship at its finest — the tradition of Indian woodcarvers producing furniture for the British colonial market, combining Indian decorative vocabulary with European furniture forms. Pieces like this were made in centres such as Bombay, Vizagapatam, and Mysore, and the quality of carving on this example is exceptional.

Diameter (top): 39.5 cm
Height: 36.5 cm
Weight: 2,200 grams
Material: Ebonized carved wood, brass hinges, iron brackets
Style: Anglo-Indian colonial
Origin: India (British colonial period)
Year: circa 1900
Condition: Very good antique condition — consistent with age and use, original patina throughout

WARNING: This table will immediately become the most interesting object in any room you place it in. Maison de L'oro accepts no responsibility for the subsequent rearranging of your entire living room around it, the purchasing of complementary Anglo-Indian pieces, or the lengthy Wikipedia spiral into colonial-era Indian decorative arts that will inevitably follow. You have been warned.