Kantha (Embroidered Quilt)

Currently not on view

Kantha (Embroidered Quilt)

Late 19th century

Artist/maker unknown, Bangladeshi or Indian

Along the right border appears the Bengali story of a merchant's vision of the goddess Chandi rising from the ocean on a lotus and emitting elephants. The merchant and his retinue are depicted as wealthy residents of Calcutta out for a jaunt on the Hooghly River. Elsewhere on the kantha are satirical views of role reversal intended to highlight society's moral decline. A man drags his aged mother on a leash while his wife or mistress perches on one shoulder (upper left border). In the lower panel, an unusual motif depicts a red horse astride a crawling man who holds the strings of a hot-air balloon; the embroiderer seems to have combined the satirical image of a horse riding a man with that of a then popular Calcutta circus act involving a girl parachuting from a balloon onto the back of a running horse.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Kantha (Embroidered Quilt)

Date:

Late 19th century

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Bangladeshi or Indian

Medium:

Cotton plain weave with cotton embroidery in back, buttonhole, chain, darning, satin, split, running, eye, fishbone, and dot stitches

Dimensions:

65 x 40 1/4 inches (165.1 x 102.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles

Credit Line:

Gift of Stella Kramrisch, 1968

Accession Number:

1968-184-10

Geography:

Made in Undivided Bengal, Asia Possibly made in Faridpur District, Bangladesh, Asia Possibly made in West Bengal, India, Asia

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Currently not on view