Sheesham Daybed with Caned Ends and Upholstered Seat

A diwan for the baithak, about 6 feet long, sheesham all through, cane woven by hand into both ends, one loose seat cushion and a padded back panel edged in brass tacks. 6 turned legs under it, ball finials on the 4 corner posts.

The fabric is polyester and you should know what that means before ordering. In May and June it sits warmer than cotton because it does not breathe the same way. Against that, hair oil and haldi wipe off it where they would go into cotton for good, and the cover unzips and goes in the washing machine. For a diwan that gets sat on daily by people who have just eaten, that trade is the right one.

Sitting Palthi

A diwan is deeper than a sofa and the back sits lower, because it is made for sitting with your feet under you. The buzurg of the house will sit palthi on it with a gao takiya behind them for 2 hours and get up without anything hurting, which they cannot do on a sofa. Children treat the same depth as a bed. The dhobi treats it as the place the ironed pile goes. It is the one piece in an Indian drawing room that gets used 3 different ways before lunch.

Cane On Both Ends, Woven Here

Both end panels are cane, woven by hand in the workshop, so the weave pulls tight as it dries and there are no loose strands at the edges. The 2 ends match strand for strand because they were woven on the same day by the same hands. The cane lets light through, so the diwan does not sit like a wall across the room the way an upholstered sofa does. Keep it off the west wall though, because 3 summers of afternoon sun will go through the cane and the polyester both.