Kantha Embroidery

Kantha hails from the regions of erstwhile East Bengal, present day West Bengal and Bihar. Essentially a woman's art, it is a form of patched, quilted and vividly embroidered textile made entirely out of used cloth.


It originated from the way in which Bengali housewives mended old clothes by taking out a strand of thread from the colorful border of their saris and making simple designs with them. Old saris and dhotis are used to make handmade gifts for family and friends.
   

Picture Credit: Katna's Katha

The Sanskrit word ‘kontha’ means 'rags.' One of the many stories regarding the origin of the craft links it to Lord Buddha and his disciples, who used to cover themselves with garments made from discarded rags that were patched and sewn together. The oldest extant Kantha date from the early 19th century and is embroidered with blue, black and red threads that were unraveled from sari borders. Because they were salvaged from used garments that had been frequently laundered, the colors tend to be muted.

The original craft process involves layering worn clothes together and binding them with variations of the simple running stitch. This process is called Kantha quilting. Even though the craft uses only one kind of stitch, it is the numerous variations and intricacy with which it is executed that make the art beautiful. Motifs used in embroidery may be geometric or very elaborate in nature. Flowers, tress, gods and goddesses make for the more popular motifs used.

Picture credit: embroiderytechnique.blogspot.in

Often Kantha tells a story through its embroidery of different tales using symbolic motifs, thereby receiving its name from the Hindi word 'Katha' or story.


Contemporary Katha doesn’t necessarily follow this process. The embroidery has been used on various products like saris, cloth, bed sheets, cushion covers etc. primarily on cotton or silk.



Picture credit: The Color Caravan

 The Color Caravan has worked to co-create Kantha cushion covers with the women of our partner NGO in Uttarakhand who are 'exceptionally' good with Kantha embroidery, patchwork & applique work.

Craftswomen at our partner NGO.

Craftswomen at our partner NGO.

Craftswoman at our partner NGO.

Our creation has adapted the traditional Kantha stitch in a more contemporary form, using  Bhagalpur silk and cotton cloth. 









Check out our complete collection on our eStore www.thecolorcaravan.com

 (The Color Caravan the copyrights for all the photographs in this post unless otherwise mentioned.)

Chikankari : a delicate embroidery technique from Oudh

 

Native to the city of Nawabs - Lucknow, earlier known as Oudh or Awadh, Chikankari embroidery dates back to the 17th century when it was introduced as a court craft by the Mughal empress, Noor Jahan.

 
Over time it spread to the cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Dhaka, Varanasi and Bhopal when court patronage was offered to the artisans. However, Awadh remained the home of this art as the finely embroidered Muslins of Chikan became a prescribed requirement of the Mughal Court.

 
 
 The word chikan comes from the Persian word chikaan meaning drapery.
 
Originally done on Muslin cloth with raw thread, white on white, Chikankari is a form of subtle embroidery in which minute and delicate stitches stand out as textural contrasts, shadows and traceries. In a unique form of this art, 'anokhi chikan' the stitches do not appear at the back.

International Trade fairs in the nineteenth century such as 'The Calcutta International Exhibition of 1883-84' and 'The Indian and Colonial exhibition of 1886' imparted a huge impetus to the universal demand for chikankari. It was no longer dependent on court patronage as commercialized demand grew.

Like most handicrafts, Chikan embroidery undergoes a laborious process.

The pattern to be embroidered is stamped onto the fabric by hand with a wooden pattern block that has been coated with neel (indigo).

 
The fabric now has the outlines of the designs that will be embroidered into the delicate ‘shadow’ embroidery motifs that are the defining feature of Chikankari.

  

 

After this the embroidered product is washed. Washing is very important. After the product goes through the preceding steps it becomes so dirty that the finer flaws are not seen unless it is washed. Clipping extra threads, fixing any flaws, and putting finishing touches on product are some of the final steps.

Chikankari has six basic stitches and 'over thirty-five' other traditional stitches used in various combinations based on what the pattern to be embroidered requires. 
 
 
 

 
The names of some of these stitches are phanda, chana patti, ghaas patti, bijli, jaali, tepchi, bakhiya, hool, zanzeera, rahet, banaarsi, kharau, keel kangan, bubul and hath kadi.
 
 

Depending on the type of garment and the pattern to be embroidered the entire process happens in a series of stages over a period of months or even years.

Also, the embroidery itself is divided among the artisans, with pairs or groups of three or more specializing in one particular stitch. When one group completes their particular stitch for a garment, it is passed on to the next group to add their specialty stitch.

 
 
After surviving the loss of royal patronage, Chikankari suffered deeply at the hands of commercialization and lost its way in mediocrity  as traders flooded the markets with coarse work and thoughtless design owing to growing demand in the 1980s.

Off late, organizations have intervened with sensitive design solutions and have worked with artisans devoted to Chikankari to re-create its original charm.


The Color Caravan along with its partner organization in Lucknow is striving to do the same, shaping the craft to the needs and demands of its patrons whilst maintaining its authenticity and intricacy.

Check out some elegant Chikankari stoles created by craftspeople of our partner organization on our eStore.


(The Color Caravan owns the copyright for all the photographs in this post. Cannot be used in any form without written permission.)