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KanthaWest BengalOne of a kind

Vintage Kantha Throw N° 19

Sale price£135.00

Hand block-printed in Rajasthan
100% pure cotton
Dyed with AZO-free pigments
Sourced directly from the artisan workshop

A vintage kantha throw, made in Kolkata from layers of recycled cotton sarees, hand-stitched throughout with the running stitch that has been passed down through generations of Bengali women. Edges finished with a festoon stitch, looped by hand all the way around.
Reversible, with two completely different sides. Drape it over the sofa, layer it across the bed, wrap it around your shoulders on a cool evening. It works anywhere and looks like nothing else in the room.
Every throw in this collection is one of a kind. When it is gone, it is gone.
A throw that feels like something you found rather than something you bought.

The Treasure Hunt

In Bengal, nothing was wasted.
The word kantha means rags in Sanskrit, and that is where this tradition begins. For centuries, women in rural West Bengal gathered the worn cotton saris of a household, the ones too soft and too loved to throw away, and layered them together. Three layers, sometimes five, sometimes more, each one a different print, a different life. Then they stitched through all of them with a single running stitch, passing the needle up and through and back again across the whole length of the cloth, until the layers became one thing.
The stitch itself is simple. A needle, a thread pulled from the border of one of the saris, a hand moving in a straight line across the fabric. What takes time is the scale of it. A single throw requires thousands of metres of running stitch worked by hand, each one placed close enough to the last to hold the layers firmly, far enough apart to let the cloth breathe and drape. The result has a particular weight and warmth that no new fabric quite replicates, because it is not one cloth but many, carrying the softness of years of washing and wearing.
These throws were made in Kolkata, where we sourced the vintage sarees and worked with artisans to stitch them into something new. Each saree brought its own print, its own history, its own colour. Layered together and hand-stitched through, they became the throw you are looking at now. The edges are finished with a festoon stitch, a looped border stitch worked by hand that frames the whole cloth and keeps the layers bound at the edge.
Every one is different. Every one is the only one.

Care
  • Wipe down with a damp cloth for everyday freshness
  • Hand-wash gently in cool water with a very mild or pH-neutral detergent
  • Handle with care when wet, do not wring or twist
  • Wash separately the first time, vintage colours may release
  • Lay flat or dry over a rail, away from direct sunlight
  • Do not tumble dry
  • Steam or iron on a low heat if needed
Delivery & Returns

UK delivery

  • Standard delivery — £5.95, free over £60. Royal Mail tracked, 3–5 working days.
  • Express delivery — £7.95. Royal Mail tracked, 1–2 working days.
  • Order before 2pm Monday–Friday for same-day dispatch. Orders placed after 2pm, or over the weekend, dispatch the next working day.

International delivery

We ship worldwide. Rates and timeframes calculated at checkout based on your destination. Customs duties and import taxes are not included and are the customer's responsibility.

Returns

You have 14 days from receiving your order to return it. Items must be unused, in their original condition and packaging.

For change-of-mind returns, we email you a Royal Mail returns link — no printer needed, no postage to pay upfront. The cost of return postage is deducted from your refund.

For faulty, damaged or incorrect items, we cover return postage in full and refund your original delivery charge. Sale items are final.

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Our Promise

Every piece in our collection is sourced directly from artisan workshops we know by name. We pay fairly, we visit often, and we believe the people who make a thing should be valued as much as the thing itself. We use natural dyes wherever possible, plastic-free packaging in every order, and we donate a share of every sale back into the craft communities we work with.

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