Arkivism
Shawl
CC0 · no rights reserved

Shawl

ca. 1800 · Medium: wool, cashmere Technique: tapestry weave, interlocking twill and embroidery Weave: single faced 2/2 twill tapestry, double interlocked, two color complimentary weave

From the collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

Square Kashmir shawl with a design of cones primarily in reds, with an open ivory field. Each cone is 10 1/2 inches high, and is compartmented by a narrow border of floral vines. Currently the shawl has wide borders on two adjacent sides and narrow borders on the two remaining sides. It has been re-made from fragments of a long shawl. Originally each end would have had a wide border nine cones in width: one side of the square version has the full nine cone pattern, the other has seven cones. The two remaining cones exist as a separate fragment (1958-148-5b). The narrow guard border of a similar floral vine has been stitched to the two remaining sides. In this way the shawl could be folded diagonally to form the triangular shawl popular in the mid-19th century.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s own description
Credit lineShawl. ca. 1800. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Gift of Lea S. Luquer. CC0.

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