Crafted
By Hand.
Made With
Heart.
We are a family of fifteen artisans who have spent 45 years doing the one thing we love most — transforming raw wood into objects that outlast trends, outlast fashion, and find a permanent place in the homes and hearts of people who care about quality.
1981
Est. in Jaipur
45+
Years of mastery
5,000+
Happy homes
15
Master artisans
Master Craftsman
Damodar Lal Kumawat
45 years of mastery
Since
1981
Jaipur
The Person Behind the Craft
Meet the
Founder
Damodar Lal Kumawat
Founder · Master Craftsman
45
years of craft
Damodar Lal Kumawat began his journey with wood in 1981, when his father placed a chisel in his hand for the first time. Not to teach him a trade — but to show him that patience has a shape, and that shape is wood.
By the time he was thirty, he had mastered six traditional carving techniques from the Rajasthani woodworking tradition — techniques that are rarely practised today because they take too long, require too much skill, and cannot be rushed.
He has never wanted to rush. In 45 years, not one piece has left this workshop that Damodarhasn't personally inspected. That's not a quality policy. That's a promise made to himself in 1981, and one he has kept every single day since.
“I never make a product. I make an object that someone will pass down to their children. That changes everything about how you hold the chisel.”
— Damodar Lal Kumawat, Founder
Mastered skills
Our Craft
Why Handmade
Matters More
The factory can produce a thousand identical photo frames in the time it takes our craftsman to finish one. We have never considered that a problem worth solving.
Mass production optimises for speed and uniformity. We optimise for the moment someone picks up our piece and feels the difference — the weight, the warmth of the grain, the slight irregularity that tells them a human made this for them.
200+
Unique designs
6–12
Months wood drying
0
Shortcuts taken
Wood Selection
We use only sustainably sourced walnut, teak, oak, and rosewood. Each plank is air-dried for 6–12 months before it enters the workshop — rushed drying causes the warping that mass-produced pieces try to hide.
Hand Tools First
Where a machine finishes in seconds, our artisans spend hours. Hand tools leave subtly different marks with each stroke — no two pieces are exactly alike. That variation is not a flaw. It is the proof of the human hand.
Traditional Joinery
We use dovetail, mortise-and-tenon, and finger joints — the techniques that have held furniture together for centuries without glue or metal fasteners. Structures built to last generations.
Natural Finishing
Every piece is finished with food-grade linseed oil, beeswax polish, or water-based lacquer. No harsh chemicals, no off-gassing, no shortcuts. The finish feels like wood, not plastic.
From Workshop to Home
Seven Steps.
Zero Compromises.
Most things sold online are made without you ever knowing how. We believe you deserve to know exactly what happens between the forest and your front door.
01
Inspiration
Every piece begins not with a plan — but with an idea. A sketch on a scrap of paper. A conversation with a customer. A wood grain that suggests a shape.
02
Design
Our craftsmen draw by hand before they ever touch a tool. Proportions, joinery style, grain direction — all decided before the first cut is made.
03
Wood Selection
The right wood for each design. Walnut for warmth, teak for durability, oak for character. Sourced from certified suppliers, air-dried in our yard.
04
Hand Crafting
Chisels, gouges, planes. The sounds of the workshop are the sounds of the same tools used for centuries. No shortcuts, no speed-ups.
05
Finishing
Sanding through six progressively finer grits, then natural oil or wax. The finish brings out grain colour that was hiding in the raw wood all along.
06
Quality Check
Damodar personally examines every piece. Dimensions, grain alignment, joint tightness, surface finish. Only pieces that pass go forward.
07
Delivery
Packed in recycled kraft paper and natural cotton padding. Each parcel includes a handwritten card naming the artisan who made the piece.
01
Inspiration
Every piece begins not with a plan — but with an idea. A sketch on a scrap of paper. A conversation with a customer. A wood grain that suggests a shape.
02
Design
Our craftsmen draw by hand before they ever touch a tool. Proportions, joinery style, grain direction — all decided before the first cut is made.
03
Wood Selection
The right wood for each design. Walnut for warmth, teak for durability, oak for character. Sourced from certified suppliers, air-dried in our yard.
04
Hand Crafting
Chisels, gouges, planes. The sounds of the workshop are the sounds of the same tools used for centuries. No shortcuts, no speed-ups.
05
Finishing
Sanding through six progressively finer grits, then natural oil or wax. The finish brings out grain colour that was hiding in the raw wood all along.
06
Quality Check
Damodar personally examines every piece. Dimensions, grain alignment, joint tightness, surface finish. Only pieces that pass go forward.
07
Delivery
Packed in recycled kraft paper and natural cotton padding. Each parcel includes a handwritten card naming the artisan who made the piece.
What We Believe
Our Values Are Not
Policies. They're Promises.
Craft Over Speed
We refuse to optimise for production speed. Every extra hour spent on a piece is an investment in how long it will be loved. We have never apologised for being slow.
Responsible Materials
Every plank we use comes from certified sustainable sources. We don't use endangered species. We don't cut corners on provenance. The forest matters as much as the workshop.
Family First
Our artisans are not employees. They are family. Fair wages, safe conditions, and investment in their skill. If the workshop doesn't take care of the people in it, the love won't show in the work.
Every Piece, Personal
We don't manufacture. We make. There is a difference. When you order from us, a specific person in our workshop decides how your piece will be shaped. Their name is on the card inside.
Heirlooms, Not Products
We make things to outlast trends, redecoration cycles, and fashion. We want our work in homes fifty years from now. That standard changes every decision in the workshop.
Preserving Tradition
Traditional Indian woodcarving techniques are being lost. We teach them. We practise them. We refuse to let them be forgotten — because craft that isn't practised is craft that dies.
Behind the Scenes
Inside the
Workshop
Most of what makes our pieces special happens long before you see them — in the grain of the wood, the temperature of the workshop, the mood of the artisan.
Morning at the workshop
Hand finishing
Carving detail
The master maker
Hands at work
At the bench
Every photo is from our actual workshop in Jaipur — not a stock library.
Why ArtisanKart
Why Not Just Buy
From a Marketplace?
You could. Plenty of people do. But every time you buy from a family workshop instead of a factory-algorithm, you are making a choice about what kind of things you want in your home — and what kind of people you want to support making them.
Why does it feel different?
Handmade
Every piece is made by a human hand, not a machine. You can feel the difference in the weight, the texture, the slight uniqueness that no two pieces share exactly.
Why does it mean more as a gift?
Personalised
A name, a date, a message. Our artisans engrave by hand, finishing what a machine starts. When someone reads their name on a piece of walnut, they know it was made for them.
Why can you trust the people behind it?
Family-Owned
There is no board of directors, no VC-backed expansion plan. Damodar Lal Kumawat founded this workshop and still walks the floor every morning. Your order matters personally.
Why does it last?
Premium Materials
We use walnut, teak, oak, and rosewood — wood that has been used for heirloom furniture for centuries. Not MDF with a veneer. Not plywood. Solid, real wood.
Why can you order from anywhere?
Ships Worldwide
Our pieces have reached homes in 25+ countries. Packed carefully, tracked end-to-end, with a customs invoice for international orders. Jaipur craft, doorstep delivery.
Impact & Legacy
Buying This Is
Worth More Than You Think
When you choose handmade over mass-produced, you are not just buying an object. You are choosing to support a living tradition, a family workshop, and the fifteen people whose livelihood depends on the belief that craft has value.
Artisan Employment
15 artisans. All full-time, all fairly paid. We have no seasonal workers, no gig economy. The people who make our products have careers, not contracts.
Sustainable Sourcing
Every wood type we use comes from certified sustainable forests. We planted 300 trees in 2025 through our supplier partnerships. Wood that ends as craft should begin as responsibility.
Preserving Heritage
We actively teach traditional Rajasthani woodcarving techniques — relief carving, chip carving, and the intricate geometric jali patterns. Skills that would otherwise be lost within a generation.
The Next Chapter
ArtisanKart was built to last. The intention is simple: this workshop should still be making things beautifully in another forty years — and beyond.
Our vision
“In thirty more years, I want someone to pick up one of our pieces and ask — where did this come from? And be told: a family workshop in Jaipur that has been making things this way since 1981.”
— Damodar Lal Kumawat
Now You Know Our Story
Find Your
Perfect Piece
Every item in our collection was shaped by the same hands and the same belief — that something made slowly, with care, is worth having.