Shipping & Packaging
Shipping & Packaging
House of AshVed
Last updated: 20 August 2026
The short version
We pack every work as though it were going into a museum, insure it for its full value at our cost, and stay responsible for it until it is in your hands. You will know who is carrying it, where it is, and when it will arrive. If it is damaged in transit, that is our problem to solve, not yours.
1. How we pack
Traditional Indian art is unforgiving in transit. Palm leaf splits, natural pigment abrades, clay chips, scrolls crease permanently. So we over-engineer this deliberately.
Works on paper, cloth and palm leaf Interleaved with acid-free tissue and glassine so nothing touches the painted surface. Flat-mounted on rigid acid-free board, or rolled on a wide-diameter archival tube where the medium permits it — never rolled tightly, and never rolled at all if the pigment is at risk of cracking. Sealed in a moisture barrier, then a double-wall corrugated carton with 50 mm shock-absorbing margin on every side.
Framed works Corner protectors, surface-film on the glazing, cushioned float inside the carton so the frame never bears the impact. For works above [36 inches] on the shorter side, or anything glazed with glass, we build a custom wooden crate.
Sculpture, terracotta, metal and clay Individually wrapped, cavity-packed in a rigid box with custom-cut foam or moulded pulp, projecting elements separately braced. Anything heavy or structurally delicate ships crated.
International consignments Crated in ISPM-15 compliant heat-treated timber where wood is used, with the commercial invoice, HS classification and, where required, non-antiquity documentation affixed to the outside.
Every carton is sealed with tamper-evident tape and carries handling marks and orientation arrows. We photograph each work before it is wrapped and again once it is packed, and we send you those photographs with your dispatch notice — so the condition at the moment it left us is documented and shared, not asserted.
On packaging materials. We use recycled and recyclable corrugate, paper-based void fill and moulded pulp wherever the work's safety allows. Where we use plastic film, it is because a moisture barrier is genuinely necessary. We will not compromise a two-hundred-year-old tradition's survival for a sustainability claim, but we minimise honestly.
2. Where we ship
We ship across India and to most countries worldwide. A few destinations are restricted by courier limitations, import rules on natural materials, or sanctions — we will tell you at enquiry stage rather than after you have paid.
If your pin code is not serviceable by our fine-art partners, we will find another route, including hand-carry within India for high-value works, and tell you what it costs before you commit.
3. When it will reach you
Ready works, within India Dispatched within 2–4 working days of payment clearing. Delivered 3–7 working days after dispatch to metros; 5–10 working days elsewhere.
Works requiring framing, mounting or crating Add 5–10 working days. We will confirm the date in writing when you order.
Commissioned and made-to-order works Timelines are set with the artist and confirmed to you in writing before you pay. These range from a few weeks to several months depending on the art form. You will receive progress photographs at agreed milestones — not because you asked, but because watching a Pattachitra emerge is one of the pleasures of commissioning one.
International Dispatched within 4–7 working days; delivered 7–15 working days after dispatch, plus customs clearance in your country, which is outside anyone's control.
Date-critical orders. If a work must arrive by a specific date — a wedding, a Diwali gift, an office opening, a birthday — tell us before you order. We will either confirm that date in writing or tell you honestly that we can't. Where we have confirmed a date in writing and miss it through our own fault, we will refund your shipping charge in full and you may cancel the order for a full refund even if the work has shipped. We would rather turn down a deadline than break one.
4. What it costs
Within India
- Complimentary shipping, insured, on all orders above [₹25,000].
- Flat [₹750] below that.
- Crated works, oversized works and heavy sculpture are quoted individually — we will always tell you the figure before you pay, never after.
International Quoted per consignment, based on destination, weight and crating. Ask us before you order and we will give you a firm number, usually within one working day.
Duties and taxes on international orders. Import duty, GST/VAT and local charges in the destination country are payable by you and are not included in our price. We declare accurately and at full value — we will not under-declare a consignment, which protects your insurance claim and your customs standing far more than a small saving would. Where duty is unusually high in your country, tell us and we will estimate it in advance so there are no surprises at the door.
Export documentation. For works leaving India, we prepare the commercial invoice, HS classification and packing list, and where customs require it, arrange certification that the work is not an antiquity under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972. This is included in our service, not billed as an extra. It is also the reason we deal only in contemporary works by living artists — the paperwork is clean, and the work travels.
5. Insurance and risk
Every consignment is insured door to door for the full invoice value, at our cost, under a transit policy held with [Insurer name]. You are not asked to buy cover, and you do not carry the risk. If you would like confirmation of cover for a particular consignment — some corporate buyers and family offices need this for their own records — ask and we will send it.
Risk passes to you on delivery. Until then the work is ours to worry about. If it is lost or damaged in transit, we deal with the carrier and the insurer — you do not. Your only role is to tell us and send photographs.
6. Receiving your work
- You will know it is coming. We send a dispatch note with the carrier name, tracking number, packing photographs and an expected date, by email and WhatsApp.
- Check the outside before you sign. If the carton is crushed, wet, or the seal is broken, please either refuse the delivery or write "damaged packaging" on the courier's sheet before signing. This single step makes an insurance claim straightforward. If you have already signed and then find damage, still tell us — we will not use a signature as a reason to refuse you, but the claim takes longer.
- Open it carefully. Cut only the tape, never into the carton. Please photograph the sealed carton and the unwrapping. If you'd like, unbox on a video call with our team — several clients do this, and we're happy to.
- Tell us within 72 hours if anything is wrong. Our Refund Policy takes over from there.
- High-value deliveries are made against identity verification. Tell us in advance if someone else will receive on your behalf.
- Three attempts. If delivery cannot be completed after three attempts and we cannot reach you, the work returns to us and we will hold it safely and contact you to rearrange. We may recover the actual re-shipping cost, but we will not cancel your order without speaking to you first.
Addresses. Please check your delivery address at checkout, including the pin code and a working phone number. Fine-art couriers will not leave a consignment with a neighbour or in a lobby, so someone must be available. We cannot take responsibility for a failed delivery to an address that was given incorrectly, but we will always help you recover the situation.
7. Services we offer beyond the box
Everything we sell is packed, insured and documented to the same standard. Some services, though, only make sense on works of a certain scale, and we would rather set that out plainly than promise everything to everyone and disappoint someone.
| Every order | Above [₹1,00,000] | Above [₹3,00,000] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Museum-standard packing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full-value insurance, door to door | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Packing photographs with dispatch note | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Certificate of authenticity and care card | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pre-dispatch daylight photographs and video | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Named point of contact for your order | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Complimentary insured storage | 30 days | 60 days | 90 days |
| Video unboxing call with our team | on request | ✓ | ✓ |
| Written condition report on delivery | ✓ | ||
| White-glove delivery and installation | quoted | quoted | complimentary in [listed cities] |
White-glove delivery and installation. In [Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru], our team delivers in person, unpacks, provides a written condition report, hangs or places the work, and takes the packaging away. Complimentary above [₹3,00,000]; quoted, and gladly arranged, below that or in other cities.
Storage. Bought a work but your home isn't ready? We will store it insured and climate-appropriate for the period shown above, free of charge, and at a modest fee beyond that. Ownership and all your rights are unaffected. Storage is subject to our physical capacity — if we are ever unable to hold a work for you, we will tell you before you buy, not after.
Delivery to a third party. We ship gifts. Tell us, and the invoice and price will not travel with the parcel — the recipient receives the work, the certificate of authenticity and the artist's story, and nothing else. We can include a handwritten note.
Multi-address corporate dispatch. For corporate gifting we ship to many addresses from a single order, with consolidated documentation. Ask for our corporate desk.
Consolidation. Buying several works over a few weeks? We'll hold them and ship together to save you cost and handling.
8. When things are delayed
Handmade work, monsoons, remote artist villages, customs queues and courier networks all conspire occasionally. When they do:
- We will tell you before you have to ask.
- We will give you a revised date and the reason, honestly.
- If the delay exceeds [21 days] past the confirmed date and the cause is within our control, you may cancel for a full refund with no questions.
If a consignment is confirmed lost by the carrier, we will offer you a comparable work of your choosing or a full refund, at your election, within 7 working days of that confirmation. We will not make you wait out a claim process that is ours to run.
9. Living with the work
A short note that no shipping policy usually includes, and every one should.
Keep the work out of direct sunlight and away from air-conditioning vents, external walls prone to damp, and kitchens. Natural pigments and vegetable dyes are light-sensitive; UV-filtering glazing is a worthwhile investment and we can arrange it. Dust with a dry, soft brush — never a damp cloth, never a cleaning product. For palm leaf and terracotta, moderate humidity matters more than temperature.
We include a care card with every work. If anything ever happens to a piece you bought from us — a fall, a flood, a well-meaning cleaner — call us. We will connect you with a conservator we trust, and we will not charge you for the first assessment.
10. Talk to us
Client care: care@houseofashved.com
WhatsApp: 9321059393
Hours: [Monday to Saturday, 10:00 – 19:00 IST]
Any question about a shipment gets a named person, not a ticket number. Messages received outside these hours are answered on the next working day. All timelines in this policy are stated in working days and exclude public holidays — we would rather give you a date we can keep than one that sounds better.
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