Object Image

Paisley shawl with deep borders in shades of red, orange, blue, and white. Shawl ends have a row of tall paisleys with an inner border of small paisley motifs. White center field has small paisleys, scrolling bands and floral clusters.

Credit: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gustave Gilbert...

1840-1850
Medium: silk, cotton, wool Technique: 3/1 twill patterned by supplementary wefts (multicolor) bound on the front in 1/3 twill. Double interlocked tapestry weave. The floats of the supplementary wefts on the back were cut off after weaving in the finishing proess to reduce weight. The foundation weft is white wool in the center and brown cotton in both patterned ends. The warp was dyed orange for the areas which are densely patterned, but not for the white square in the middle. At both ends, sections of warp are dyed to intensify the colors of the tapestry woven bars and the fringe.
1967-85-25
Image and text © Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2020

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