Design No. KEJ - 05

Design No. KEJ - 05

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Design No. KEJ - 07

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Design No. KEJ - 11

AH !BEAUTIFUL SHAWL OF MY DREAM 
HAND WOVEN ALL OVER , TAKE SEVERAL MONTHS TO EMBROIDERY ONE

The Kashmiri Shawl

    Contents: Preface. 1. The many faces of the Kashmiri shawl: Its allure, variety and impact on design. 2. The life and times of the Kashmiri shawl: A social history. 3. The other side of Paradise: The human face of the Kashmiri shawl. 4. The shawl in Persia: A regional development. 5.The end of princely patronage: Indian courts, culture and the loss of Empire in Awadh. 6. The Punjab shawl: An untold story. 7. A master craft: The making of a Kashmiri shawl. 8. The flowering garden: The Amli shawl. 9. The design evolution: How to date a Kashmiri shawl. 10. The European challenge: The Jacquard option. Bibliography. Glossary. Index.

    "The Kashmiri shawl is rooted in a complex craft tradition that goes back at least five hundred years. Its uniqueness lies in a combination of factors that have made it virtually impossible to duplicate anywhere else. Imitations have abounded for centuries, but none has succeeded in producing the inimitable delicacy of warp and weft, of material and design that comprise the legendary beauty of the jamavar shawl. Enduring as a design classic that has grown out of an indelible local aesthetic, the shawl's appeal lies in its ability to represent continuity as well as change.

    The Kashmiri Shawl is the story of this textile re-told through the prism of a South Asian perspective. The book realigns the design symbolism and technical evolution of the shawl to indigenous sources by emphasizing areas previously ignored in earlier histories. The shawl's origins in Kashmir, the rich vein of patronage it thrived on, its changing ornamental face, its regional variations in Persia and Punjab, its enormous impact on the European imagination, all combine to form a narrative shaped to engage both the general reader and the specialist.

    The authors bring fresh clarity to the many myths that have arisen around the Kashmiri shawl on the South Asian trade circuit. They also elucidate most of the complexities in the Kashmiri shawl lexicon. Today, possessing one of these jewel-like collectables is like owning a tiny stake in the heritage of its many-layered cultural identities." (jacket)

Antique Kashmiri  Shawl

1. Age-Circa 1970

2. Shape-rectangular

The Kashmiri Souzani embroidery emanated from Persia during the Mughal invasion of India in the 15th-16th century.

The Souzani technique is one of the the finest techniques used in the Jamewar style of weaving. the piece is believed to be around years old. This shawl is woven in Kashmir(North India) and was originally made using the finest Pashmina wool from the world renowned Pashmina goat which is known for its very soft hair owing to the high altitude and cool climate. The reason for it being so fine is that the fineness of the hair(15 to 23 microns).Microns is the measure of the thinness of each fibre/strand. Human hair micron are about 75 microns.

The Souzani technique of weaving is possibly one of the oldest weaving techniques of the Jamewars and is also considered to be extremely time consuming and laborous.The Shawls are first Handspun by craftsmen who have been doing this work for generations and need at least 10-15 years of experience to be able to spin the yarn by hand to such a fine count.This is subsequently Hand woven on a handloom.

The dyes used generally in the olden days were all natural or vegetable dyed. Natural dyes are extracted out of plants ,rocks ,minerals and sometimes even insects such as cochineal or laq.

The advantage with natural dyes is that they do not generally fade and can last a lifetime. The problem with new shawls is that they are generally manufactured using chemical dyes and have a tendency to fade away with exposure to sunlight.

There is a primary thing to understand that old shawls were generally created by ‘the labour of love’ and not manufactured with the intention to resell them.

If , one was to buy a shawl lets say a 100 years ago, one would not have had to go to a shawl shop. One would try and call a renowned shawl weaver to ones home and select a design from his hand drawn maps which are called ‘nakshas’. Then ,one would select the colors and buy the weaver, the raw materials such as Pashmina or silk ,dyes etc. When one bought raw materials in those days one ensured that one procured the best quality as things were not adulterated in those days and one was making it for ones self and not for resale

For example , when we source wool today there is a grading of wool that was not prevalent in those days. In those days, they only used the best quality of Pashmina wool and it sometimes also had a sheen like silk and a very soft texture.

The colors used were plenty and one could use up to 50 colors in one shawl that were natural dyed. In those days, just dyeing the hand spun yarn which has a much better hand feel as compared with modern day machine spun yarn could take up to 6 months just to dye the wool. Today , one can chemical dye the pieces within 20 days and people tend to use lesser number of colors.

The weavers though generally illiterate themselves have an amazing sense of colors and aesthetics as they have been involved in this art form for centuries. They, generally used bright natural dyes.

Red is considered to be color of life and is generally derived out of a creeper called madder or sometimes even the pomegranate fruit.

Blues are derived out of stone dyes and sometimes even indigo.

Black is iron oxide

Yellow is derived from flowers and sometimes saffron

The older shawls, owing to these factors tend to last a lifetime and are extremely durable.

The next thing, was the craftsmanship: In those days , there was no shortage of time or deadlines to be met with. Hence , the skill of the craftsman and picks were much finer than in new shawls.

As, a new shawl manufacturer, a new shawl dealer would like the shawl to be ready as soon as possible so that he can turn over his investment as soon as possible. He would also work backwards as far as pricing is concerned and would look at the maximum price a shawl can achieve for the final consumer and then reduce the cost of production at the various levels of production so that he can maximize his profit. Also, there could be a few different people changing hands which would involve their profits as well. The art of hand weaving fine shawls is dying down in modern times as the children of these master craftsmen are no longer interested in weaving shawls and would prefer to get white collared jobs so that they can lead successful livelihoods.

Keeping all these factors in mind the older shawls are made with better raw materials and workmanship and time and hence last much longer and can last anywhere between a 100 and 500 years.

The most important thing with antique shawls is rarity. This means that the lesser number of pieces made from a particular area during a particular period the better and pricier the piece shall be. If a design is commonly found it has lesser appeal and desirability.