C . T . PHILIP ASSOCIATES Egmore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Once produced from Turtle shell and Ivory (both now banned materials) this Box is made from a hard satin wood and decorated, with imitation Ivory. The motifs are hand cut with a fret saw and pinned on to the box with "silver" pins, as they had not heard of "super glue" in those days!.

The "ALMAIRAH", a mini chest of nine drawers is made from Sisham, a hard wood that grows on the cool hilly slopes of Northern India. Many products come from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh made from this wood.

South India is famous for its fine Leathers from ancient times. Leather was one of the main products traded by the British East India Company. Two very different kinds of Leather are used to make these two products. One is a soft vegetable tanned leather bag. Hand stitched, and lined with suede leather, its classic pattern never goes out of fashion. The other equally timeless design is hand tooled on a firm Buffalo skin. Goat skin is used for braiding.

Marquetry came to India from Persia. The exquisitely beautiful Taj Mahal was inlaid with semi precious stones by Craftsmen from Persia. Similarly a learned Maharaja of Mysore brought language teachers from Persia who taught the locals this craft. This little Table (approx. 30Cm. diam.) comes apart for easy shipping.

Different kinds of timber are used to carve these magnificent Animals. The Rose wood used here, takes almost 300 years to grow! Some of the elephant carvings are a "Working" elephant, Elephant Book-ends and Mother Elephant with baby which is one of a kind because its carved from a single piece of wood.

South Indian Bronzes are made by the "lost wax" process. This piece is a KALINGA NARADANA or Lord Krishna on a serpent. The NATARAJA, a dancing pose of Lord Shiva is also very popular.