A Many-Splendored Thing: Kantha Technique and Design

Mason, Darielle

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A Many-Splendored Thing: Kantha Technique and Design

Anne Peranteau

Description: Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz...

Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection and the Stella Kramrisch Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The name kantha may be applied to a range of Bengali textiles that display a variety of techniques, functions, and designs. Some are plain while others are extensively embroidered. The most humble and utilitarian of these layered and quilted...

Author

Anne Peranteau

PublisherPhiladelphia Museum of Art

Related print edition pages: pp.139-154

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00323.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22917

Chapter subject tags:KanthasBengali textile fabricsEmbroidery--PatternsUpcycling (Waste, etc.)

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List of illustrations

Utilitarian kantha drying on bamboo scaffolding by Peranteau, Anne
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
2006
Kantha, kalka motif with fern stitching worked in black thread by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
Unknown
Paper label attached to kantha by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
c. 1920
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail backlit photograph showing where the individual pieces of cloth were stitched together to make this kantha by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1900
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1850–1900
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1800–1900
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1850–1900
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1850–1900
Fragments of a sari border collected in Calcutta by a British government worker around 1865 by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
c. 1865
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1900
Tightly woven and compact mill cloth has been used to make this square kantha; a small piece of handloom cloth attached at the corner enables the textures to be compared by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
Unknown
Tightly woven and compact mill cloth has been used to make this square kantha; a small piece of handloom cloth attached at the corner enables the textures to be compared by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
Unknown
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1850–1900
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1800–1900
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1925
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1925
The second campaign of embroidery in this small rectangular kantha demonstrates the heavier embroidery and wider variety of color that often characterize later kanthas by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
Unknown
Galicha (Carpet Kantha), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
c. 1940–1950
Sujni kantha using lal shalu with back-stitched designs in white yarn, detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
Unknown
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail showing wheels created by pattern darning by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1900–1950
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail of reverse showing pattern-darned wheels by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1900–1950
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail showing bending stitches by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1925
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1925
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail of reverse by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1925
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail showing the thickness of line created by chain stitching by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1900–1950
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail of reverse by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1900–1950
Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), detail showing kalka (paisley) motifs fringed with fern stitching, with fly stitching between the kalkas by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Sep 12
1875–1900