Lehanga

The entrance at the House of Mahendra Doshi in Mumbai is lined with wooden paats, khaats, and brass bajots that guide you to a durbar-style baithak at the centre of an open compound. Upholstered in green velvet, the front pillars of its wooden frame carved into peacocks decorated in mirror work, all beneath a domed canopy, it forms the central, commanding structure in this space. Towards the right is a massive two-storey warehouse inside which the showroom’s usual mix of antiques has been cleared out in favour of one thing only: chairs. Across both floors are some 150 seats of all kinds, most arranged in sitting room clusters from bygone eras and a handful hoisted up onto the walls. A History of India Through Chairs, on view until 8 March, brings together the furniture dealer’s vast collection to trace roughly 200 years of design in the subcontinent through seating.