FROM LUXURY TO NECESSITY

FROM LUXURY TO NECESSITY
HOW HAS FURNITURE USED
IN INDIA EVOLVED THROUGH TIME

There was a time in the nation’s history when the use of furniture was so sparse that it had astonished our European visitors. The furniture industry we see today has been shaped with influences from several foreign cultures.

Once only limited to the affluent, today, furniture is something that is inevitable in every Indian household. From basics such as bed, sofa, dining table, etc. to high-end furnishing items such as dressers, armoires, loungers, etc., we use every kind of furniture that people in western countries do. The Indian furniture market is pegged to cross the valuation mark of $32 billion by 2019 and attain a market value of around $61 billion by 2023. While the residential sector contributed around 63% to the market value of the country’s furniture industry in 2018, the share of the most dominant market player in the sector, wooden furniture, is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 11% during the period of 2018-23. India’s furniture market has experienced significant growth in the past two decades and with a 17% share, India was the largest importer of furniture in the world during 2004-05.

Though the above-mentioned figures depict the widespread use of furniture in today’s times, there was a time in the nation’s history when the use of furniture was so sparse that it had astonished our European visitors. The use of a variety of furniture was something that was commonplace in the day to day lives of our counterparts in the western world. When the Portuguese first made contact with India for trade purposes, some of the primary furnishings they saw here was low chairs, charpoys, cushions, mattresses, etc. which were used for seating, eating and sleeping. Furniture with high aesthetic value such as thrones was only found in palaces and limited to royalty. Though craftsmen were treated with high pride, furniture making wasn’t mainstream back then.
The furniture industry we see today has been shaped with influences from several foreign cultures. Here’s a brief account of the making of India’s modern furniture industry.

It all started when the Portuguese felt nostalgic
Beginning with trade, the Portuguese eventually started invading several territories in India and established residential complexes as well as business settlements there in the 15th century. But the lack of conventional furnishings they used back home dismayed them. So, they shipped some furniture from their kingdom to be used as samples and commissioned Indian craftsmen the work of producing their replicas. The seasoned craftsmen who were masters of their art instead of producing exact replicas produced something which was a mix of European and Indian styles. This gave birth to the Indo- Portuguese style of furniture making. In the northern territories of the country, this style was dubbed as the ‘Mughal style’ and included tables and writing desks made of ebony or other dark woods with inlaid bone or ebony decorations. While in the southern part of the country, this style was hailed as the ‘Goanese style’ which was characterized by large cabinets with influences from traditional Portuguese forms. Goanese style furniture was decorated with inlay ornaments that were either geometric or semiabstract.

The Dutch touch
When the Duch formed trade bases in India in the early 16th century, they also brought along their furniture making style which gave rise to the Indo-Dutch style of furniture making. This style of furniture can also be categorized into two broad groups. The first group comprised furniture manufactured from light coloured hardwoods with inlaid bone and incised decorations.

The second group consisted of carved furniture made of dark-coloured woods such as ebony with intricate floral decorations. Though widely believed to be of Indian origin, the latter group of Indo-Dutch style furniture was largely manufactured in Java, which was also a part of the Dutch administration in the east. During the British Raj The Britishers too had a significant impact on how furniture was made in India. Post 18th century most of the furniture manufactured in the country was highly inspired by the English style. These English style furniture was not only used by Britishers but was also highly preferred by Indian royals. They had high aesthetic value with intricate carvings and typical forms of these furniture included chairs with high and straight backs and flat seats. English style furniture in those times also included whole sets made of ivory in line with the Chippendale and Sheraton styles.

Wood has since a long time been the preferred material for making furniture in India. The Indo-European style furniture too was manufactured using a variety of locally available woods. They not only augmented the ornamentation process (which has always been an integral part of Indian furniture making) but also were highly sturdy and resilient. Some types of wood commonly used in Indian furniture making include teak, rosewood, acacia, ebony, sheesham, etc.

Post the British rule, furniture used in India have evolved in many ways. Usability took over appearance and low-cost furniture gained popularity. The furniture used today, at times, takes inspiration from the western world and other cultures but at the same time is high on Indian values as well. Furniture eventually also became lighter and were customised to be applicable in regular households. Today, in the era of digital transformation, just like most of the other industries, the Indian furniture industry is also going online. With players solely dedicated to selling furniture online gaining popularity in the market, conventional big names in the industry have also come up with digital avatars in addition to their brick and mortar stores.

Subhash Jolly (Chairman, Wood Technologist Association)