Indian Embroidery

Kantha

Kantha is the folk art of Bengal. It is a domestic art because the base is waste material. There are two types of embroidery seen in Bengal exports in the 17^th century-

1) quilted bedspreads and 2) Dacca which were embroidered muslin pieces.

Kantha literally means rags, which are quilted and embroidered with colored cotton of Bengal.

Fabrics used were old sarees or dhotis pieced together in layers and tacked with running stitch using white thread covering the entire field. Each kantha appears different from the other.

Motifs used were human and animal figures, floral symbols which cover the surface from the corners, tree of life that reaches out towards the center, the center design was usually a lotus. Different patterns like birds, fishes, kalka, mandala, mythological stories also figured.

The threads used fpr embroidery were usually drawn from the colorful borders of the discarded sarees. The colors used were blue, green, yellow, red and black.

The stitches used in kantha embroidery are: running stitch, darning stitch, satin and loop stitch. Stem stitch is also used to outline the figures.

Different types of kantha work:

Archilata kantha - small, covers for mirrors or toilet accessories with wide, colorful borders

Baiton kantha - square wraps used for covering books.

Durjani/thalia these are quilted wallets made out of rectangular kantha pieces

Lep kantha - these are wraps which are heavily padded to make warm quilts.

Oaar kantha are used pillow covers.

Sujani kantha are decorative quilted kantha used as blankets or spreads.

Rumal kantha are used as plate coverings.

These days the kantha embroidery is used to adorn fresh new sarees and fabric, instead of old rags. It is quite popular even today.

(Embroidery is my passion. I studied Indian embroidery when I was in college, and as I was clearing out my cupboard, I came across my old journal. The history of indian embroidery is interesting, and I thought I'd digitize my old journal before the termites got it. Not too many pictures or detailed information of old Indian embroidery is available, I have to rely on my own journal which is over two decades old. I will add more pages on Indian embroidery- Manipuri and kasuti are next in line)