POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Notes

The English word "shawl" is derived from the Persian "shal", originally denoting a class of woven fabric rather than a particular article of dress. In traditional Indo-Persion usage shal could equally well apply to a scarf, a turban, a mantle or even a coverlet, the distinguishing feature being that the material was fine wool or some other kind of animal fleece. The finest brocaded woollen shawls of the modern era are synonymous with the name of Kashmir. Traditionally, the wool used in Kashmir shawls (known as cashmere or pashmina) came from goats found in Tibet and Central Asia. This fine wool comes from the fleece underneath the rough outer hair, which is grown as protection against the harsh cold of the region and shed with the onset of summer. The comparative rarity and expense of this type of wool led to experimentations with other materials, which contributed to a decline in standards. Kashmir shawls became increasingly popular in Europe during the late 18th century when travellers, East India Company employees and civil servants began bringing them home. Although in India shawls were part of the man's dress, in Europe they quickly became a sought after accessory for women. In France, Empress Josephine became an avid collector after receiving a gift of Indian shawls from Napoleon upon his return from his Egyptian campaign of 1798. Images of the Empress and other French society ladies wearing these richly coloured shawls helped popularise the fashion in France and England. Demand soon outstripped supply, despite the high prices such shawls commanded. Kashmir shawl weavers practised what is known as the twill-tapestry technique (so named because of its similarity to the tapestry weaving technique of western Europe), where a single shawl could take eighteen months or more to complete. During the nineteenth century, in response to foreign demand and increasingly complicated patterns, the idea of the 'patchwork shawl' was born. By dividing up the weaving between several looms and joining the pieces together, even shawls with complex patterns could be finished in a significantly shorter time. By the mid 1860s, the decline of the shawl's popularity had begun, although production continued for some years. By 1885, shawls were no longer fashionable, destroyed by an over-supply of much cheaper European versions made on the newly introduced jacquard loom, and later printed shawls. [see 'From Kashmir to Paisley: the shawl trade and the hundred year fashion' by Christina Sumner in "The Australian Antique Collector" , Jan-June 1993 and "The Kashmir Shawl" by John Irwin, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973]