Yellow woven Shawl, Kashmir, 19th Century.

A yellow woven shawl, or doshala, with floral paisley border with the ends ornamented with two rows of floral cones, divided by narrow bands of floral ornament.

Shawls were woven entirely by hand. Each colour of yarn was wound on a small bobbin and manipulated backwards and forwards through the fixed warp (lengthwise) threads to create the design. Where the different colour areas met, the two yarns were interlocked, producing a characteristic ridge on the back of the fabric. The process of weaving a large shawl, often with a highly complex design, was slow, specialised, laborious work, taking anything from eighteen months to three years to complete.

Though shawls are worn and used as a warm protective garment all over north India today, Kashmir has become synonymous with shawls all over the world. The shawl became a popular fashion item in the nineteenth century with its migration from the foothills of the Himalayas to the salons of early nineteenth-century Europe.

IS.2058B-1883