SHAWLS OF KASHMIR

1. SHAWLS OF KASHMIR

2. SHAWLS :
is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn
over the shoulders, upper body and arms,
sometimes also over the head. It is usually a
rectangular or square piece of cloth that is
often folded to make a triangle but can also be
triangular in shape.

3. KASHMIRI SHAWLS :
The shawls made in Kashmir occupy a pre-eminent place among
textile products. The Kashmir shawl is characterized by the
elaboration of its design, in which the "cone" pattern is a
prominent feature, and by the glowing harmony, brilliance, depth,
and enduring qualities of its colours. The basis of these excellences
is found in the very fine, soft, short, flossy under-wool, called
pashm or pashmina, found on the shawl-goat, a variety of Capra
hircus inhabiting the elevated regions of Tibet. There are several
varieties of pashm, but the finest is a strict monopoly of the
maharaja of Kashmir.
There are only two principal classes:-
• (1) loom-woven shawls called tiliwalla, tilikar or kani kar
• (2) embroidered shawls : amlikar (in which over a ground of plain
pashmina is worked by needle a minute and elaborate pattern)

4. PASHMINA SHAWLS
refers to a type of fine cashmere and the textiles made
from it. The wool comes from changthangi or pashmina
goat, which is a special breed of goat indigenous to high
altitudes of the Himalayas in and northern India .Pashmina
shawls are hand spun, woven and embroidered in Kashmir,
and made from fine cashmere fibre.

5. COLLECTING PASHMINA WOOL :
The Pashmina journey begins early
summertime when Himalayan farmers from
remote Himalayan villages climb up into the
mountains to comb the soft fleecy under
bellies to collect the wool of the Lena Rama
a wild goat that lives mostly in the Chang
Thang area of Ladakh.

6. The Hand spinning process:
The wool is far too delicate for
mechanical spinning and weaving
processes and so it is carefully hand
spun by thousands of women across
Kashmir .The finer the thread .The
finer the shawl.

7. HAND WEAVING :
The hand weaving process is usually
done by men highly skilled in working
with the fine pashmina threads. These
threads are so delicate that it is
impossible for them to be machine
woven.

8. The next stage in the process involves
the hand block printing of design on
to the fabric. Each design has a name
and some blocks date back over a
hundred years and have been passed
down through families for
generations, other blocks are newer
and more modern in design.
The process involves the use of a
temporary natural black ink which is
first placed on to the hand and then
the block is patted several times into
the hand before it is pressed onto the
fabric.
It is a very fast and incredibly accurate
process

9. Hand embroidery
The printed shawl is now passed to be hand embroidered.
For fine pashmina this is mainly the work of the Master
craftsmen.

10. Washing and pressing :
Finally the shawls are gently washed in a cold, mild detergent
solution to remove the dye and dirt that will have gathered
over the months and years in production. Dried and pressed
they are finally ready for sale. In total the process involves 9
families all specialists in their particular area.

11. Motifs :
The earliest design on Kashmir shawls in
seventeenth and eighteenth century was a
single flowering plant complete with roots,
inspired by English herbals (books with plant
illustrations) which reached the Mughal court
during the seventeenth century. This design
gradually developed into an upright spray of
flowers, and by around 1800 became the
stylized cone-shaped motif known as the
boteh, which we now tend to call the Paisley
pine. The shape of the motif changed over the
decades, from a small squat cone to a very
elongated curve.

12. There are many theories about the
boteh or pine motif; Paisley Museum's
explanation seems perhaps the most
logical. The pattern can be traced back
to ancient Babylon, where a tear-drop
shape was used as a symbol to
represent the growing shoot of a date
palm. The palm provided food, drink,
clothing (woven fibers) and shelter, and
so became regarded as the ‘Tree of Life',
with its growing shoot being gradually
recognized as a fertility symbol.

13. Kashmiri paisley motifs :
Shawls of Paisley design were in fashion for nearly 100 years, from around 1780
until the 1870’s

14. COLORS

15. accessories

16. ( 1) .Embroidered with the patterns of fantastic flowers and leaves, Kashmir shawls exhibit the
natural beauty of the Kashmir. Nice fringed enhance their elegance.
( 2) . Knitted by skilled craftsmen, light weighted Kashmir shawls featuring the rich hand
embroidery of paisley & wavy designs mix the warmth with the beauty