Cleveland Museum of Art

Fragment of a Shawl Border

Date

c. 1815–25

Medium

wool and silk: tapestry twill

Culture

Kashmir

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Many Kashmiri textiles, even those from the early 1800s, come down to us in fragments. This shawl border was once a part of a larger piece, which could have simply been draped over the body or stitched to the hem of a garment (as many European women did). Owning and wearing such luxury textiles would have been part of indicating one’s social status. Although incomplete, this work still shows the general pattern of the larger shawl, and it retains its vibrant and hypnotizing original color. Dyes were plant-based and are liable to wash out. Red dyes for textiles could be made from pomegranate skins.

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