Cashmere, painting by John Singer Sargent 1908. Public Domain
We work closely with our partners in Kashmir to help them meet the exacting demands of our elite clients globally.
Emperor Napoleon returned from one of his Egyptian campaigns with finely woven Kashmir shawls for Empress Josephine, who, subsequently, owned several hundred such shawls and her legacy is a long lasting change in European design concepts centered on the motif known as boteh, commonly referred to as the “Paisley,” which is perhaps the most important element of textile design to have come out of the East.
KANI Shawl, handloomed in Kashmir c.1870s 76" or 193cm square.
Kani Shawls are woven entirely by hand in a weft-faced technique. Each color of yarn is wound on a small bobbin, kani in Kashmir, and manipulated backwards and forwards through the fixed warp threads to build up the design. Where the different colors meet, the two yarns are interlocked, producing a characteristic ridge on the back of the fabric.
This is not a shawl. It is a prayer.
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