18th Century Rosewood Tester/Canopy Bed

An 18th century Rosewood tester bed from an important palace in Goa. The posts are beautifully carved and the solid wood headboard adds a touch of simplicity and sturdy elegance. Cro...

This 19th-century Indo-Portuguese altar was masterfully crafted from rich rosewood and crowned with a beautifully carved crosses at the top. This exceptional piece exemplifies the ha...

A Baroque four-poster bed (ceiling), with headboard. The headboard, decorated with boned shaped, shakes and strings, are turned into bobbin-shaped discs and balls in the sides and th...

This large and attractive architectural piece is known as a pulpit canopy. Before the advent of microphones and speakers, orators would often address assemblies from elevated platforms known as “wine glass pulpits”. These podiums featured domed roofs called abat-voix, sometimes known as sounding boards, that would project sound outwards. Our walnut wood pulpit canopy is a fine example of such a device. Hand-carved and hand-painted in Italy in the 1700’s, our abat-voix is roughly octagonal in shape. Each of the sides have edges with luxuriously thick step molding, alternating between stained and gilded wood. Each of the corner cornices are adorned with gilded flower carvings, although some are missing. The interior of the canopy features a gilded open sun with sinuous rays emanating all around. Each of the sides are adorned with foliate margents surrounded by scrolls, again with some losses. All the edges are bordered with a thin layer of gilding. Although our fascinating 18th century Italian walnut pulpit canopy was designed for a church pulpit...