In the mid-19th century there was a fashion for exotic imported shawls. Weavers in France and Britain tried to exploit this demand by producing their own versions. One major centre of shawl weaving was Paisley in Scotland, where woven and printed versions were produced. Soon there was furious competition between manufacturers. With the aid of the semi-automated Jacquard loom, they were now able to produce much bigger and more elaborate patterns than ever before. George Haité (1825-1871) was a well known and prolific designer of shawl patterns. By 1850 he and his fellow designers were drawing enormous and fantastic all-over patterns based on pine cones. They were of brilliant colour and had large repeats.