The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Fragment of a Shawl Border

c. 1815–25

Kashmir

wool and silk: tapestry twill
Overall: 35.9 x 40.3 cm (14 1/8 x 15 7/8 in.); Mounted: 54 x 58.4 cm (21 1/4 x 23 in.)
Gift of Dr. E. Rosencrantz 1934.330
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Red dyes for textiles could be made from pomegranate skins.

Description

Many Kashmiri textiles, even those from the early 1800s, come down to us in fragments. This shawl border was once a part of a larger piece, which could have simply been draped over the body or stitched to the hem of a garment (as many European women did). Owning and wearing such luxury textiles would have been part of indicating one’s social status. Although incomplete, this work still shows the general pattern of the larger shawl, and it retains its vibrant and hypnotizing original color. Dyes were plant-based and are liable to wash out.
  • ?–1934
    Dr. E. Rosencrantz, San Francisco, CA, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1934–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Ames, Frank. The Kashmir Shawl and Its Indo-French Influence. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1997.
  • Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 22-September 8, 2024).
    Nature Supernatural. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 2023-March 3, 2024).
    Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 2023-March 3, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment of a Shawl Border|url=false|author=|year=c. 1815–25|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1934.330