Anurag Kanoria, Director of The Great Eastern Home, a firm specialising in handcrafted furniture, shares the stories behind two of his favourite pieces and his approach to blending classic design with contemporary ideas. Kanoria’s Antique Pedestal Pedestal captures the essence of French Baroque. Crafted from wood, it has a petal-shaped base and its surface is decorated with carvings of vines, leaves, and flowers — the kind of details Baroque art once used to symbolise growth and abundance.
His French Contemporary table uses the style of the early 2000s, blending modern French minimalism with classic touches. A sleek bronze base holds up a round faux-leather top, offering a contrast. Although contemporary, it hints at the balanced, graceful lines of traditional European furniture. Kanoria says most of their work draws from major European design eras — Baroque, Rococo, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Queen Anne, and Art Deco. For antique pieces, Kanoria usually sticks closely to the originals, carefully studying the materials and colours. His contemporary works, on the other hand, give those old styles a modern twist. But even when updating classic designs, the basics stay the same. “When something is well-proportioned, it it just feels right — you may not know why, but you sense it,” says Kanoria. He sticks to those ‘golden ratios’, even in modern work. Trends fade because they often ignore those principles. “Classics last because they connect with something deeper in us,” he adds. And as old crafts and skills slowly disappear, Kanoria feels it’s important to keep those traditions alive, a pursuit that continues to shape his work.
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