Shawl of plain woven silk with ikat stripes, possibly made in Turkey, Guatemala or Syria, 1870-1899

Shawl of plain woven silk with ikat stripes.

1931 Description: the scarf is woven with a tinted silk warp of brown silk, with narrow stripes of tinted warp weaving in black, fawn and white. At each side is a broad band of tinted warp weaving in red, white, green, blue and yellow. The ends are finished with a knotted silk fringe.

1975 Description: Perraje Jaspeado (Tie Dyed Shawl). Jaspe is the Indian term for tie-dyed yarns. There are several different ways of wrapping the perrajes around the body and it is also common to see them folded and used on the women's heads as hats. The warp fringe is braided. It is a warp-faced weave; the weft which is not visible is white.

Notes (1997):
Warp: silk with a slight z-twist; 180 threads per inch. The main part of the fabric is decorated with two types of stripes:
(1) black, white and cream warp ikat
(2) light brown containing two narrow yellow stripes
To either side there is a coloured border. From the centre outwards this is:
(1) light red, dark red, white, dark red, light red.
(2) warp ikat in white, red, yellow, green and blue.
(3) as (1)
(4) as (2) but slightly more than double the width of the pattern.
(5) as (1)
(6) as (2)
(7) as (1)
Weft: white silk; 43 threads per inch.
There is a plaited fringe at either end. An amateur attempt has been made to create a diamond shaped net effect by threading one plait through another. This is most extensive at the sides where the coloured warp threads are.

Bequeathed by Alfred Percival Maudslay, Esq.

1931 Description: Guatemalan or European (Swiss)
1975 Description: Guatemala. In some case, if one is familiar with the character of jaspe patterns and professional weaving centres in Guatemala, it is possible to identify the villages where the perrajes (shawls) jaspeados are woven. The majority are woven on foot looms and are sold by merchants in all the village markets. There are many professional weaving centres described by L de J Osborne in 'Indians Crafts of Guatemala ans San Salvador' (University of Oklahoma Press, 1965 pp. 46-47 and pp. 112-114). Mrs Osborne says that San Cristobel Totonicapan is known for its multi-coloured jaspe and that Mazatenango is famed for its shawls with jaspe decoration and hand-knotted fringes. She also says that jaspe fabrics were so popular during colonial days that they were used to dress the statues of Christian saints. This shawl, because of its rich pure silk composition, was perhaps woven for a church or, more likely, for a Spanish woman in colonial times or for a wealthy Indian woman. Certainly this shawl was woven for trade or by commission.
Krystyna Deuss, Director of the Guatemalan Indian Centre, London (personal communication 1996): 'This shawl was woven on a foot-loom in Salcaja, one of Guatemala's first centres of tie-dyeing.'
Note (2000): To me this looks like an ikat wrap from Western Asia, from either Turkey or Syria. The multi-coloured side borders are typical. However, Turkish and Syria wraps are seldom woven with a warp fringe.

T.87-1931