PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Lovingly created from the remnants of worn garments and embroidered with motifs and tales drawn from the rich visual and narrative repertoire of Bengal, kanthas were traditionally stitched by women as gifts to be used in the celebration of weddings and other family occasions. “Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal” from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection and the Stella Kramrisch Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (December 12, 2009 – July 25, 2010) presents 44 examples of this vibrant domestic art, created by village and urban women in the Bengal region, now comprised of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal, India between the mid-19th and the mid-20th century. The first exhibition devoted solely to this form of art ever presented outside of South Asia, “Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal” focuses on two premier collections. One was assembled and donated to the Museum by it