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| Sash (dochalla) India, Kashmir 18th century
This long rectangular shawl from Kashmir is called a dochalla. Kashmir is a region located in northwest India. Men wore this type of textile as a shoulder shawl in India during the Mughal Empire (1526–1858). In the 19th century these luxurious textiles became popular among European woman who wore them as shawls. Jahangir, the third ruler of the Mughals, was a fanatic naturalist and a lover of Kashmir region. During his reign (1605–1627) he listed all the flowers he encountered in this beautiful area and had them paint by his artist Mansur. These realistic pictures of plants were translated into a myriad of artistic media including textiles such as this shawl. The dochalla is made by specialized weavers. The wool that was used for weaving is called pashmina, the finest wool from domesticated goats. The twill tapestry technique, as practiced by the weavers of the Kashmir shawls, was a very slow process. The wefts of the patterned part of the fabric were inserted by means of hundreds of wooden spools without the use of a shuttle. Weft threads alone form the pattern; these do not run the full width of the cloth, being woven back and forth round the warp threads only where each particular color is needed. The shawls underwent a gradual evolution throughout the 19th century. Their sizes and patterns altered and the colors became more and more sophisticated. Inevitably the weaving of the shawls was influenced by European taste, since many shawls were made for export.Cotton, silk; twill weave, supplementary-weft patterning Click here to view an archive of previously featured Textiles of the Month. |
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