Textiles

Twill Tapestry

• Woven goats fleece, part of a Jamawar garment
  Kashmir
  18th Century
  119 x  44 cms
  
  Colours: Mustard yellow ground, pattern in green, dark blue, black & red



Green areas encrusted with bright blue pigment, now partly worn or washed away. Design: Repeating flower sprig.

The practice of applying paint or dye with a brush to change the colour of individual motifs in shawl fabric appears to have been widespread, since many examples have been noted. There is so far no means of determining whether this was done at the time of manufacture or more recently; or whether this practice is what William Moorcroft had in mind when he listed qalamgar shawl fabrics among the manufacturers of Kashmir in the early 1820's