Mashrab
A hand-carved Arabesque dining set for twelve, the chairs showing turned-spindle mashrabiya panels and deep relief carving, in a client's dining room.

Furniture carved by hand, to your design

Mashrab commissions bespoke Arabesque and Oriental pieces — dining sets, seating, and mashrabiya screens — hand-carved by craftsmen in Egypt and delivered across Canada. Every piece is built to your design, by the people who carve it. Nothing is chosen from a container.

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Completed work

Our first commission

A dining set for twelve and a folding mashrabiya screen, designed with the client, carved in Egypt, and delivered to Vancouver. These photographs are of the finished pieces in their home.

Tables and seating

A solid-wood table paired with twelve chairs, each back and side panel carved and turned by hand, upholstered in a custom textile chosen with the client.

The complete set of twelve chairs around the table, each chair back carved with arabesque relief and turned spindles.
A single chair photographed close, showing the horseshoe arch beneath the seat and the depth of the relief carving.
The full dining set seen from one end, twelve carved chairs around a solid-wood table with a striped runner.
A chair back in detail, its upper panel filled with rows of hand-turned spindles.
The dining set in the client's room, brass pendant lamps overhead and arched mirrors on the wall behind.
A chair seen from the side, the carved side panel and turned legs visible.
The dining table from above, showing the grain of the solid timber top.
The carved crest at the top of a chair back, cut into a scalloped arch.
A chair's seat rail, carved with a repeating floral arabesque band.
Two chairs side by side, showing the consistency of the carving across the set.

Mashrabiya screens

A four-panel folding screen in turned-spindle latticework, inlaid with mother-of-pearl marquetry. Screens are a smaller commission than a full dining set, and a common first piece.

A four-panel folding mashrabiya screen standing against a wall, its lattice made of hundreds of turned wooden spindles.
The folding screen seen at an angle, the panels stepped apart.
Detail of the screen's mother-of-pearl marquetry inlay set into the lattice.
The screen photographed full height, the carved crest along its top edge.

How a commission works

Seven stages, about six to eight months

Every piece is carved by hand and travels to Canada by sea. That takes time, and we would rather you knew exactly how much before you begin than discover it halfway through. These are ranges, not promises of a date — hand work does not keep to a calendar.

  1. Design 2–3 weeks

    We work through the piece with you — proportions, timber, carving pattern, finish, upholstery — until there are drawings you are happy with. This stage begins once a design deposit is placed, which is credited against the final price.

  2. Contract and agreement 1–2 weeks

    Your workshop quote comes back and we put everything in writing: the price, the schedule, and the terms covering the piece in transit. Manufacturing starts once the contract is signed.

  3. Manufacturing 8–10 weeks

    The craftsmen cut, turn, and carve. This is the part that cannot be hurried; the lattice work on a single chair back takes days on its own. You do not wait in silence: we send photographs as the work progresses, at each significant stage, and we want your reaction to them. If a carving depth, a profile, or a finish is not what you pictured, this is when we change it — while the piece is still on the bench and a change costs nothing but time.

  4. Finishing and packaging 2–3 weeks

    Staining, finishing, and upholstery, then export crating built around the carving so nothing bears weight on a fragile edge.

  5. Shipping 10–12 weeks

    Sea freight from Egypt to Canada. The crossing itself is the bulk of this, with booking and port handling at both ends.

  6. Customs and delivery 2–4 weeks

    Customs clearance on arrival, then delivery to your home and placement in the room.

  7. AssemblyCarried out by you

    Pieces travel dismantled, because a crated flat panel survives a sea voyage far better than an assembled frame. You assemble them on arrival. We supply illustrated instructions written for your specific piece, all fixings, and we stay reachable while you work through it. Most sets go together with a screwdriver and a second pair of hands.

End to end, a commission takes about six to eight months from first conversation to a finished piece in your room.

Every commission is priced individually, because every commission is different. There is no price list. Once the design is agreed and the workshop has quoted, the price is set out in your contract along with the schedule and the terms covering the piece in transit.

Begin

Start your project

Tell us what you have in mind. We reply to every enquiry personally, usually within two business days, and the first conversation costs nothing.

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