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Square Shawl ("amli")
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The central white medallion radiates into a swirling pattern of rosettes and teardrop-shaped “tree-of-life” motifs, also known as paisley, that spread over the entire surface. In the border is an undulating vine and a row of gate-like elements filled with individual trees. Kashmiri shawls were signs of high social status in India. Beginning in the late 1700s, the shawls were also coveted throughout Europe and America, until they began to fall out of fashion during the 1870s.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSquare Shawl ("amli"), mid-1800s. India, Kashmir. Wool: embroidery (large-pieced areas); overall: 182.9 x 177.8 cm (72 x 70 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Burridge Family, 1926.239
