Vintage Patchwork Modern Overdyed Hand Knotted Area Carpet-Cyclamen 11072 5' x 8'

Cyclamen takes its name from the wild flower that blooms cool magenta in late winter, a colour that sits between rose and violet and is one of the harder positions in the dye chemist's vocabulary because the pigments responsible for it are unstable in alkaline conditions. The patchwork form makes cyclamen viable at floor scale; the under-pattern of the antique source carpets keeps the wash active rather than reading as a single flat plane, and the seams give the field architecture at the scale where a single-piece weaving in this colour would feel monolithic. The genre developed over the past two decades through workshops working with antique stock that had retained its chromatic depth.

Source carpets at least four decades old were selected for tonal compatibility, joined on a cotton scrim by three artisans, and washed back to uniform pile. The bath drew on madder, lac insect, and a small proportion of logwood to push the warmth into the cooler magenta register that defines cyclamen. Curing occurred in air under sun rather than in heat, which is why the surface holds the slight saturation unevenness of plant dye. The original wear patterns of the source carpets remain visible across the patches as faint articulation under the wash.

The composition

A saturated cyclamen field broken into rectangles, each holding the ghost of its source carpet under the wash; floral medallions here, geometric tribal repeats there, fragments of classical border running through one or two of the larger registers. The colour shifts across the day; morning light pushes the field toward warm rose; evening settles it into the cooler violet register. The carpet reads as a single chromatic plane from across a room and reveals its layered internal history on close approach.

What you are buying

Comparable antique single-source carpets in equivalent fibre and pile age trade with European dealers at four to seven lakh rupees in working condition. The patchwork carries the same pile maturity in a single coherent field that no antique source could supply on its own. The carpet appreciates with use rather than depreciating. The magenta continues to settle for two years as the wool oxidises and the cooler violet note develops slightly across the same span.

The piece in a room

5' x 8' (152 x 244 cm) anchors a primary bedroom, a small sitting room, or a personal study with a single chair and a low table. Cyclamen wants quiet surroundings; bone plaster, pale linen, and oiled walnut hold the colour, while strongly patterned upholstery competes with the field. The carpet pairs especially well with brass, with raw leather upholstery in cooler tones, and with bleached oak floors. White walls let the colour expand into the architecture.

Conservation

Rotate every six months for even light exposure and traffic. Vacuum on suction setting only with the beater bar disengaged so the cotton scrim remains unstressed. Blot spills downward with a clean cotton cloth rather than wiping. Engage a patchwork-trained conservator every four years for hand cleaning. Under that regime the carpet runs decades and the cyclamen note develops slowly across most of the span.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted antique wool patches joined on cotton scrim, cyclamen overdye
• Dimensions: 152 x 244 cm (5' x 8')
• Construction: original asymmetric knots, varied across patches
• Hands: 3 artisans, assembly and finishing
• Pile: 6-9 mm, varies by patch
• Dye: madder, lac, logwood full-immersion overdye on vegetable-dyed antique base
• Origin: India

Free shipping anywhere in India. Cash on delivery available. 7-day exchange. The carpet ships in a sealed crate that may be retained for storage and onward transport.