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Kantha (Embroidered Quilt)

Late 19th or early 20th century
Artist/maker unknown, Bengali
The embroiderer of this magnificently rippled and puckered quilt fully exploits the kantha's possibilities for three-dimensionality. Lines of stitches in a combination of red and indigo run parallel to the white stitching at regular intervals to create a truly topographical effect. All of the motifs, even the faces of the human figures, are done in pattern darning that liberally intersperses white with the blue or red to give them a lacelike delicacy that heightens rather than overwhelms the invigorated ground.

Object Details

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