June/July 1928

Kantha (Embroidered Quilt)

The triple central panel of this kantha focuses and accentuates the inscription that tops it which translates as "Mrs. Labanya Prabha, Kalta village, June-July 1928." This inscription gives the quilt particular importance because it includes a date and geographic location. Kalta village is most likely the town of the same name near the Padma River northwest of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The year 1928 accords well with the naturalistically outlined elephants, bridled horses, and cattle parading around the rectangular central panel, as well as the small lion crouched in one corner. These renderings relate to printed illustrations that came into ever-wider circulation during the first quarter of the twentieth century.