Art Institute of Chicago

Woman's Long Shawl

Probably Norwich, England

Date

1820s

Medium

Silk, cotton, and wool, warp-float faced 3:1 'S' twill weave with supplementary patterning wefts bound in weft-float faced 1:3 'S' twill interlacings; attached side borders of 2:2, 2:2, 1:3, 2:2...'Z' composite twill weaves with supplementary patterning wefts bound in weft-float faced 1:3 'Z' twill interlacings; main warp fringe; woven on loom with Jacquard attachment

Culture

Norwich

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

These boldly patterned shawls illustrate the broad appeal of the buta , or paisley, pattern. The Jacquard mechanism, a patterning technology introduced in the first decade of the 1800s, enabled European manufacturers to create increasingly complex variations on the paisley motif. Although this technology allowed for faster weaving, European companies never successfully reproduced the delicacy of the hand-woven shawls from Kashmir. British- and French-made shawls tended to be thicker and heavier and the designs were arguably less refined than the original Kashmir garments.

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