The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Long shawl with woven figures and animals
c. 1885
Overall: 354.3 x 141.6 cm (139 1/2 x 55 3/4 in.)
Gift of Arlene C. Cooper 2006.200
Location: not on view
Description
Kashmir shawls from India were status symbols in Europe during the 1800s, and few are as rare as this woven example. Over 200 human figures take part in drinking, smoking, dancing, and falconry in the Indian princely scenes that enliven the shawl’s borders and four dark stripes. The stripes alternate with large elongated boteh, or paisley, motifs that intertwine with blossoming stems in a European style adapted by Kashmiri textile artists. This extraordinary woven shawl was probably made to dazzle the jury at one of the European expositions of industrial products, as almost all other figural shawls were embroidered. It was woven in many pieces and then skillfully joined with colorful harlequin end borders.- ?–2006Arlene C. Cooper [1939–2019], New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art2006–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 366-367Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 441-443, fig. 10.32
- Floral Delight: Textiles from Islamic Lands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 9, 2014-May 4, 2015).
- {{cite web|title=Long shawl with woven figures and animals|url=false|author=|year=c. 1885|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.200