Woven, Not Printed: A Paisley Shawl from 19th Century Paris
Earlier this week, I was admiring the many beautiful printed designs on silk and rayon scarves offered up in the book Scarves. They were printed designs and for some reason when I saw this long shawl on 1st Dibs, I assumed it was printed too. How else could they have used so many colors in so many intricate patterns? The answer is a jacquard loom using 8 different colors. See the last image for the back side of this shawl where the non-dominant colored threads are hidden behind.
They date it to around 1860, so from the Second French Empire. Paisley patterns, borrowed from India, were already fashionable then. While we often see stoles of 6 feet in length and a foot and a half in width today, this one is a whopping size. Almost 5 feet wide and more than 10 feet long. So long that you wonder if anyone actually wore it-- I know I would feel swamped by it, even if it is indeed thin--or if it was used to drape over a sofa instead.
You can find it here: https://www.1stdibs.com/fashion/clothing/coats-outerwear/long-french-paisley-shawl-polychrome-center-circa-1860/id-v_6601412/