Not currently on display at the V&A

Man's Shawl

early 20th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Sindh (made)
Rajasthan (made)

Man's shawl in block-printed cotton decorated with small circular mirrors and embroidered with silks. Made of two lengths of rust-coloured cotton joined in the middle with blanket stitch. The centre of the shawl (about 18 inches) is left unembroidered, and the rest is covered with an embroidered pattern in off-white, purple, dark red, green and yellow ochre of lotus flowers and stylised peacocks.


Object details

Categories
Textiles
Men's Clothes
Embroidery
SCRAN
Object type
Man's shawl
Materials and techniques
Block-printed cotton, embroidered with silks, mirrors
Brief description
Man's shawl of block-printed cotton, embroidered with silks, possibly made in Sindh or Western Rajasthan, early 20th century
Physical description
Man's shawl in block-printed cotton decorated with small circular mirrors and embroidered with silks. Made of two lengths of rust-coloured cotton joined in the middle with blanket stitch. The centre of the shawl (about 18 inches) is left unembroidered, and the rest is covered with an embroidered pattern in off-white, purple, dark red, green and yellow ochre of lotus flowers and stylised peacocks.
Dimensions
  • Height: 267cm
  • Width: 106cm
Credit line
Collection of the late Mr Justice Feroze Nana, given to the V&A by his widow and children
Object history
The desert regions of Western India and Pakistan are renowned for their fine embroidery, and it is often combined on costume pieces with other techniques such as tie-dying or blockwork.
Subject depicted
Floral Pattern
Bibliographic references
  • Swallow, Deborah and John Guy eds. Arts of India: 1550-1900. text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : V&A Publications, 1990. 240 p., ill. ISBN 1851770224, p.127, pl.107.
  • Indian embroidery / Rosemary Crill ; photography by Richard Davis. London: V&A Publications, 1999 Number: 185177310X, 1851772944 (pbk.) p.0, cat. no. 94, p.99 ill.
  • Colours of the Indus : costume and textiles of Pakistan / Nasreen Askari and Rosemary Crill. London: Merrell Holberton in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1997 Number: 1858940443 p.24-25, pl. 26
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.7-1981

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O16055/mans-shawl-unknown/
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