Fair questions, straight answers.

With a complimentary digital preview — send one photograph and, within seven days, receive a preview of your portrait's stitch plan. No payment, no obligation. If you already know what you want, you can commission directly from the Silk & Shadow page or begin a Bespoke consultation.

The one that feels most like them — not the technically best one. Sharp eyes and natural light help most; we can work with less than perfect. If you're unsure, our concierge will gladly look at three and tell you honestly which serves them best.

Yes. Silk & Shadow works from a single primary photograph (others may guide details), while Bespoke commissions regularly blend several — the pose from one, the expression from another, the light from a third. That is rather the point of Bespoke.

Yes — this is Bespoke territory, where whole families have shared the frame. Silk & Shadow is designed around a single subject, where the xushi shading can concentrate on one face. For two (or more), start a Bespoke consultation and we'll talk composition.

Not necessarily — but we'll tell you the truth before you spend anything. Send it for a preview: if the silk can find them, we'll show you how; if it can't, we'll say so and explain what would fix it. We would rather lose a sale than deliver a portrait we're not proud of.

It will look like your companion, translated into silk — which is not the same thing, and is rather better. Xushi embroidery builds faces from dense and sparse stitch: form where thread gathers, light where it thins. Families tell us the portrait feels more present than any print. See for yourself in the Gallery.

15 × 15 cm suits a shelf, a desk, a bedside table — one face, held close. 26 × 36 cm adds the chest and shoulders, more of the light in the coat, and presence across a room. Bespoke runs larger and freer. Our rule of thumb: where will you sit with it? Choose for that chair, not the wall.

Everything: the embroidery, oak framing with museum glass, the name embroidery if you'd like it, the signed certificate of origin, insured duties-prepaid delivery worldwide, and the seven-day digital preview beforehand. The price you approve is the price you pay — full stop.

Yes — up to eighteen characters, hand-stitched in matched silk beneath the portrait, complimentary. You'll confirm the exact spelling at the preview stage, before anything is stitched.

A numbered document, signed by your named artisan of record — the one master who stitched your portrait from first thread to last. It records the format, the stitch count's hours, the silk's origin, and your commission number. Families tell us it matters more than they expected.

Silk & Shadow: six to ten weeks at the frame depending on format (15 × 15 takes ~110 hours; 26 × 36 takes ~250), plus the seven-day preview beforehand and insured shipping after. Bespoke timelines are confirmed during consultation. Every order includes a private tracking page — see what it looks like.

You receive a digital preview of the stitch plan — layout, thread palette, where the shading gathers. Nothing is stitched until you approve it, and adjustments at that stage are unlimited and free. Most families approve within a day or two; a few ask for changes, and that is exactly what the week is for.

Yes. Your tracking page updates at every stage, milestone photographs arrive automatically, and you may request photographs from the frame at any moment — one email, photographs within 48 hours. No black box, ever.

No — and we're honest about why. The hours a portrait needs are the hours it gets; compressing them is how likenesses die. If your date is close, tell us in the consultation: sometimes the calendar already works, and when it doesn't, we'll say so rather than promise and fail. We never charge a rush fee because we never rush.

Worldwide, insured, duties prepaid (DDP) — tracked to your door. The full journey, packaging and all, is detailed on the Shipping & Care page.

No. Delivery is DDP — duties and taxes are prepaid by us, so nothing arrives with a second invoice. The price you approved is the whole price, door included.

Every portrait ships fully insured for its full value, in museum-grade packaging. In the rare event of damage: photograph the box and the piece, contact us within 48 hours, and we begin a remake at no cost to you. The full procedure is on the Shipping & Care page.

Gently, and mostly by leaving it alone: avoid direct sunlight, keep it away from heat and damp, never wash the silk — a soft brush handles the dust of decades. Museum glass filters most UV. The complete guide, including what to do in fifty years, lives on the Care page.

Not on any human timescale worth planning for. Su embroidery in museum collections holds its color after centuries; museum glass does the rest. Your portrait is built to be inherited — the certificate names the hands that made it, for the generation that receives it.

Because your artisan is paid in full on day one — a commission's weeks are committed the moment the first thread is split, and deposit-and-balance structures exist to protect studios from walking away mid-work. We prefer the arrangement that protects the work instead.

Full refund, any reason, until you approve the digital preview. After approval the artisan's weeks are committed and begin — that is the moment the work becomes irreplaceable. The full terms, in plain language, are on the Policies page.

Yes. Payments are processed over 256-bit SSL by established providers, including PayPal. We never see or store your card details; we see that the commission is paid, and the frame begins.

No — at any volume, on any day, for any occasion. Our prices are honest once rather than inflated twice, and we don't run flash sales on memorials. What we do offer, always, is the free preview and a straight answer. This is one of the four things we will never do.