Terms Of Service

Terms of Service

House of AshVed
Last updated: 20 August 2026

The short version

Every work we sell is made by a named living artist working in a traditional Indian art form, and we guarantee it is what we say it is. Buying the work gives you the object, not the copyright — the artist keeps that. Prices are fixed and the same for everyone. We will never tell you that art is an investment. And if we ever get something wrong, we would rather fix it than argue about it.

The terms below are the formal version. They apply when you browse our site, make an enquiry, or buy from us.

1. Who you are dealing with

House of AshVed is operated by [Legal Entity Name], registered at [Registered Address], GSTIN [GSTIN]. "We", "us" and "our" refer to that entity. "You" refers to anyone using our website, visiting our gallery, or purchasing from us.

By using our site or buying from us, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, please don't transact with us — but do write to us and tell us what you object to. We would genuinely like to know.

You confirm you are at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a contract.

2. What we sell, and what "authentic" means

We deal in original Indian folk, tribal and traditional art: paintings, scrolls, sculptures, and works on paper, cloth, palm leaf and clay, made by named artists and artisan families across India.

Our authenticity commitment. Every work is sold with a Certificate of Authenticity recording the artist, the art form, the materials, the dimensions, the year of making, and its provenance as known to us. We stand behind that record without a time limit. If a work you bought from us is ever established not to be what our certificate says it is, we will refund the full amount you paid us — not a credit, not a repair — and we will bear the cost of returning the work. That commitment passes to whoever inherits the work from you.

So that this promise is dependable rather than merely generous, here is exactly how it works:

  • What counts as established. A written opinion from a recognised authority on that art form — a museum curator, an academic specialist, a national craft institution, or the artist or their documented heirs. If we disagree with the opinion you obtain, we will jointly appoint a single independent expert whose finding binds us both, and we will pay that expert's fee. We are not asking you to litigate; we are asking that the question be answered by someone qualified to answer it.
  • What we need from you. The original Certificate of Authenticity, and confirmation that the work has passed only through hands you can account for. Provenance is the point of the certificate; a work that cannot be traced back to us cannot be guaranteed by us.
  • What it covers. The maker, the art form, the materials and the period, as stated on the certificate. It is not a warranty of condition, of quality, or of value.
  • How it is backed. This obligation is recorded in our accounts as a continuing liability and is supported by our archive of source documentation for every work we have ever sold. We would rather tell you how the promise is stood behind than simply assert it.

What our descriptions mean. We use these terms consistently:

  • By [artist] — made by that artist, verified by us directly with the artist or their family.
  • From the workshop of [artist] — made within that artist's studio or family practice, under their direction, and possibly by more than one hand. This is normal and historically correct in many folk traditions; it is not a lesser thing, but you should know it.
  • Attributed to — our considered scholarly opinion, stated as an opinion.
  • Signed / unsigned — many traditional works are unsigned by convention. An unsigned work is not an anonymous one where we can trace its maker.

Geographical Indication art forms. Several of the traditions we work in carry GI protection. Where we describe a work as belonging to such a tradition, we mean it was made in that region, in that technique, by a practitioner of that lineage.

We do not sell antiquities. Everything we offer is a contemporary work by a living artist or a recent work of documented origin. We do not deal in objects over 100 years old, which are regulated under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, nor in works by artists whose output has been declared non-exportable national treasure. If you ever wish to sell us or through us a work that might fall into those categories, tell us and we will decline politely and explain why.

3. The handmade nature of what you are buying

This is not a disclaimer we bury. It is the point of the whole enterprise.

  • No two handmade works are identical. Weave, texture, line weight, and the exact register of a colour will vary.
  • Many of our artists use natural pigments, handmade paper, vegetable dye, clay, cow-dung ground, palm leaf and organic binders. These materials behave like natural materials: they may mellow, deepen or lighten over decades. That is patina, not deterioration.
  • Small irregularities — a fingerprint in the clay, an uneven edge on a scroll, a slight warp in a palm-leaf panel — are marks of the hand. They are not defects.
  • Screen colour varies by device. We publish photographs taken in daylight without colour manipulation, and for any work above [₹50,000] we will send you additional photographs and a short video before you commit, so that what arrives is what you chose.

The balance we strike: natural variation is not a defect, but if a work materially differs from the images and video we sent you specifically, that is a valid claim, and our Refund Policy will apply.

4. Copyright, and what you own

When you buy a work from us, you own the physical object. You do not acquire the copyright.

The artist retains copyright in the image under the Copyright Act, 1957. That means the right to reproduce it — on printed matter, packaging, textiles, merchandise, corporate collateral, book covers, NFTs or advertising — stays with them.

You may of course photograph the work in your own home or office, and share those photographs personally and on social media. We only ask that you credit the artist by name.

Commercial reproduction requires written permission. If you are a corporate buyer, hotel, publisher or designer who wants reproduction rights, tell us at the outset. We will negotiate a licence with the artist on your behalf and share the fee with them. We do this often and it is straightforward.

Photographs, films, text and design on our website are ours. Please don't reuse them commercially without asking.

Moral rights. Artists retain moral rights under Section 57 of the Copyright Act. Please do not cut, trim, overpaint, crop or alter a work in a way that distorts it — a full scroll trimmed to fit a frame is a real and recurring loss. Talk to us about framing instead; we will help.

Resale share right. Indian law gives the artist, or their heirs, a right to share in the resale price of an original painting, sculpture or drawing where that price exceeds ₹10,000. We disclose this because most galleries do not. Where we assist you in reselling a work, we will account for the artist's share and pay it. We think that is the right way to build a market that outlasts us.

5. Prices, taxes and how a purchase happens

Prices. Prices are shown in Indian Rupees and are inclusive of applicable GST unless stated otherwise. The GST rate applicable to original works of art is applied at checkout and shown on your invoice with the HSN code, so that corporate buyers can assess input credit eligibility.

One price for everyone. We do not run individualised pricing, dynamic pricing, or price-by-postcode. The price you see is the price your neighbour sees. We may run announced exhibition offers or collector programmes, and those are visible to all.

Availability and holds. Almost everything we sell is unique. Occasionally a work sells in the gallery moments before it sells online. If that happens we will tell you immediately and refund you in full within 5 working days, and we will offer you a curated alternative and, where the fault was ours, cover any difference in framing or shipping. We can place a courtesy hold on a work for 48 hours while you decide; beyond that, a work is reserved only against payment.

Errors. If a price, description or availability on our site is clearly wrong, we may correct it and cancel an affected order. We will contact you before doing so, and refund you in full and promptly. We will not use this clause to escape a price we simply regret.

Payment. We accept cards, UPI, net banking, and bank transfer, and for international clients, international cards and wire transfer. Payment must come from an account or instrument in the name of the buyer on the invoice. We do not accept cash of ₹2,00,000 or more for a transaction, in line with Section 269ST of the Income Tax Act. For works above [₹2,00,000] we may ask for your PAN as required by tax law.

Title and risk. Title to a work passes to you when we have received full payment in cleared funds. Risk passes to you on delivery. Between those two moments the work is insured by us, not by you.

6. Commissions and bespoke work

Many of our finest works begin as commissions. Because they involve an artist's committed time, they work differently:

  • We agree the subject, size, palette, materials and timeline in writing before starting.
  • A deposit of [50%] is payable at commissioning and is passed to the artist as working capital. The balance is due before dispatch.
  • You approve a preliminary sketch or colour study before the final work begins. This is your main point of control, so please take it seriously.
  • After sketch approval, the deposit is non-refundable, because the artist's time has been committed — but it is transferable: if you change your mind, we will apply it in full against any other work in our collection within 12 months.
  • Handmade work resists deadlines. We will give you an honest timeline, and if a date is critical, say so and we will confirm in writing whether we can commit to it. See our Shipping Policy for what happens if we miss a date we committed to.
  • If an artist cannot complete a commission — illness, bereavement or, as sometimes happens with our senior masters, death — we will tell you immediately and offer you a full refund of everything paid, or an alternative arrangement of your choosing. We will never keep money for work that does not exist.

7. A word about art and money

We will describe a work's craftsmanship, rarity, lineage and cultural significance. We will not tell you it will appreciate.

Nothing on our website, in our conversations, or in any material we produce is investment advice, a forecast of value, or a guarantee of resale price. Art markets are illiquid and unpredictable, and the value of any work may fall as easily as rise. Buy what moves you, at a price you are comfortable with.

That said, we recognise that collections change. Where you wish to sell or trade a work you bought from us, our Refund Policy sets out the assistance we offer — because a gallery that will not help you exit is not really a partner.

To be unambiguous about what that assistance is and is not: our resale help and our trade-up credit exist so that a collection can grow and change shape. They are not a guarantee of value, a promise to repurchase, a put option, or protection against a fall in price. We do not offer, and will not offer, a standing commitment to buy back a work at the price you paid. Where we buy a work back, it is at our discretion and at a price negotiated at that time.

8. Your account and your conduct

If you create an account, keep your password confidential and tell us promptly if you think it has been compromised. You are responsible for activity under your account.

Please don't use our site to break the law, scrape our catalogue, upload malicious code, impersonate anyone, or harass our team or our artists. We may suspend or close an account that does, and we may decline any order — for example, orders that appear to be for unauthorised resale — while refunding anything already paid.

Reviews, photographs and comments you send us remain yours. By sending them, you allow us to publish them with attribution as you specify, and to remove them if they are unlawful or defamatory. You confirm you have the right to share whatever you send.

9. Our website

We work hard to keep the site accurate and available, but we do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error-free. Where the site links to third-party services — payment gateways, shipping trackers, framing partners — those services operate under their own terms, and we don't control them.

10. Digital certificates and provenance records

Where we issue a digital or blockchain-anchored certificate of provenance for a work, please understand what it is and is not:

  • It is a tamper-evident record of the work's identity, maker and ownership history, issued by us.
  • It is not a security, an investment instrument, a token with monetary value, or a tradable asset. It cannot be bought or sold separately from the work, and it confers no rights beyond evidencing provenance.
  • Its usefulness depends on the underlying technology remaining available. If that changes, we will continue to maintain the equivalent record in our own archive and will re-issue documentation on request, at no charge, for as long as we exist.

11. If things go wrong

Our liability. We will always try to put things right. Where we are legally liable to you, our total liability in connection with an order is limited to the amount you paid for that order. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses — lost profit, lost opportunity, or the disappointment of an event we could not have foreseen. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud.

Events outside anyone's control. Floods, earthquakes, cyclones, epidemics, strikes, civil disruption, courier failure, government action and comparable events may delay us. If they do, we will tell you promptly, keep you informed, and if the delay becomes unreasonable, you may cancel for a full refund.

Your indemnity. If you use a work or our content in a way that breaches these terms — most commonly, unlicensed commercial reproduction — you agree to cover the resulting claims and costs.

12. Grievances

We would much rather hear from you than have you tell someone else.

Grievance Officer: Harish Tamboli
Email: grievance@houseofashved.com
Phone: +91 9998011315

We acknowledge every complaint within one working day, and resolve it within one month, in line with the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020. If we cannot, we will tell you why and give you a date.

We publish these timelines as commitments rather than aspirations, and we hold ourselves to them. Our working days are [Monday to Saturday]; a message sent on Sunday or a public holiday is answered the next working day. If we ever miss a timeline we have published, tell us — we would rather correct a lapse than have you discover we treat our own standards as decoration.

13. Law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the laws of India. The courts at [Mumbai / Navi Mumbai], Maharashtra have exclusive jurisdiction. Before litigation, we ask that you give us 30 days to resolve the matter directly — in a decade of doing this, almost everything has been solvable over a phone call.

14. General

If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. Our not enforcing something once does not mean we have given up the right to enforce it. These terms, together with our Privacy Policy, Shipping & Packaging Policy and Refund Policy, are the whole agreement between us. We may update them, and the date at the top will tell you when we last did; changes apply to orders placed after they are posted.

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