{"id":384,"date":"2015-07-12T19:03:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-12T19:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/12\/paisley-the-teardrop-of-india-part-2-paisley-shawls-2\/"},"modified":"2015-07-12T19:03:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T19:03:00","slug":"paisley-the-teardrop-of-india-part-2-paisley-shawls-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/paisley-the-teardrop-of-india-part-2-paisley-shawls-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Paisley – The Teardrop of India – Part 2- Paisley Shawls"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nPaisley- The Teardrop of India     Part 2<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe Paisley Shawl<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn my blog of 6\/28\/15 I discussed the Paisley motif.  The most common association with this Indian
\nmotif is the Paisley Shawl, a much sought-after fashion accessory of the 18th<\/sup>
\nand 19th<\/sup> Centuries. Although the term \u201cshawl\u201d today refers to a
\nrectangular or square of cloth worn as a wrap around the shoulders or head, the
\nword is derived from \u201cshal\u201d, Persian for any finely woven cloth.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nFor centuries the finest woven shawls came from Kasmiri,
\nnorth of India in the Himalayas.  The
\nwool fibers, which we refer to as \u201ccashmere\u201d are more correctly called
\n\u201cpashmina\u201d and come from the underbelly of mountain goats. Indian  shawls were always handwoven in 2\/2 twill
\ntapestry weave on a horizontal loom, the technique known as \u201ckanikar “.
\nColored wefts were inserted with small bobbins and, as in true tapestry weave,
\nthey did not extend from selvage to selvage but were confined to the actual
\npattern.   European woven shawls used a
\ncontinuous supplementary weft which floated over the reverse. Produced as early
\nas the 15th<\/sup> C Kasmiri shawls were introduced into the European
\nmarket near the end of the 1700\u2019s, however, they were extremely scarce and
\nextremely expensive.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBecause of their popularity despite the cost, European
\ntextile manufacturers began to produce what were called \u201cimitation
\nIndians\u201d.  As it was not possible to
\nimport the fine pashmina wool  ( their experiments with raising the actual
\nmountain goats in Europe, a failure) they firstly wove the shawls in silk
\nat  Spitalfields using copies of the
\noriginal Indian patterns.  Other cities
\nsuch as Edinburugh and Norwich soon followed. 
\nBut it was  Paisley, Scotland
\nthat lent its name to this textile. 
\nBecause Paisley was a center for dyeing, printing and fringing, as well
\nas weaving it soon became the major producer of the imitation Indian shawl.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nHowever, it was the French textile industry that had the
\nmost impact on the shawl production as well as other fabrics of intricate woven
\ndesigns.  In 1801, Joseph-Marie Jacquard
\ndeveloped a weaving loom, replacing the draw-loom.  In short order the British began weaving copies of the French
\nimitations.  <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAnother Kasmiri technique, amlikar, used embroidered motifs
\nafter weaving the plain ground fabric. 
\nBecause several artisans could embroider simultainously, the time to
\nproduce the textile was significantly shortened and the resultant cost to
\nproduce was much less. These
\nembroidered shawls were so finely made that they are often confused with the
\nwoven ones <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWoven shawls were replaced with printed ones.  By the 19th<\/sup> C shawls were block
\nprinted on cotton or silk precisely imitating the original designs.  By the end of the 19th<\/sup> C roller
\nprinting replaced block printing and lengths of paisley motif fabrics were
\nproduced.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe actual paisley design and shape of the shawls, as well
\nas the palette, varied with the lady\u2019s fashion of the day.  Identification and dating of these textiles depends upon the following
\ncriteria:  <\/span><\/div>\n
\n                               1. distribution of the design<\/span><\/div>\n
\n                               2. density of the pattern<\/span><\/div>\n
\n                               3. repeat of the pattern<\/span><\/div>\n
\n                               4. symmetry<\/span><\/div>\n
\n                               5. contrast between the ground and
\ndesign<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n                               6. shape and finished size of the
\ntextile<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nSection of a woven wool shawl.  Note the black background which formed a very large square in the center of the textile.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nReverse<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nMain Boteh motif.  Colors include red, black, blue, green and ochre<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nGreen selvage edge<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nFringe edge of shawl.  The fine black fringe is entirely missing in this section.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWoven paisley shawls may still be found, however, if they are in good condition they are pricey.  You may find these textiles in varying conditions and, depending upon the intended use, they may be repaired for table covers or sections may be salvaged for use as applique elements.  Printed paisley is more affordable.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paisley- The Teardrop of India     Part 2 The Paisley Shawl In my blog of 6\/28\/15 I discussed the Paisley motif.  The most common association with this Indian motif is the Paisley Shawl, a much sought-after fashion accessory of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Although the term \u201cshawl\u201d today refers to a rectangular or square of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}