Object Note
This was part of a pair of shawls along with (ZI2020.500789 EUROPE) at the Dr Joan Coleman Collection.
Object History
This scarlet red silk (long_shawl) dating back to the mid-19th century was originally a part of the Dr Joan Coleman Collection. It was first purchased at an auction at Christie’s London in July 1978. Later The Zay Initiative managed to acquire it from Kerry Taylor Auctions in 2020.
Dr Joan Coleman began collecting shawls in 1976 and developed her lifelong passion for collecting. She was a regular at the London salesrooms of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips – three of the most outstanding auction houses of the period in the world – getting to know the dealers and learning in the process. She acquired vast knowledge and dedicated hours carefully cataloguing her ever-growing collection. She intended to loan her collection to different museums and institutions for the benefit of learning and education. Her collection is one of the largest and the finest private shawl collections to have ever graced the world with shawls ranging from Kashmir, Paisley, Edinburgh, Norwich, France, and Iran.
Object Features
This is a beautiful long_shawl with a border of black, (turquoise)/(pheroza), green, yellow, (crimson), and pink sewn with a machine to a vibrant scarlet silk base. Although dating back to the second quarter of the 19th century – c. 1940-50 – well after the invention of the (jacquard) loom, this (shawl) was probably not woven on one because the (hashiya) or (weft) end borders of the shawl are sewn to the main body – a practice in the trade that was only common with hand drawn looms in Europe.
With six elongated large leaves that almost resemble a (paisley)/(buta) the shawl (phala) flaunts six vibrant colours that complement the scarlet body. Each leaf is encased in a designated box composed of intricate floral arrangements forming the (jaal). The centres of the leaves are composed of elaborate floral designs in the shape of Mughal-style perfume bottles with outlines or halos around them in pink, peach, green, black, yellow, and crimson respectively. There is the extensive usage of turquoise throughout the phala, however, its subtle and well-blended execution makes its presence quite muted.
The (tanjir) and the hashiya are both composed of an elaborately dense floral design. A stylized (palmette) topped with a (fleur_de_lis) and flanked by two paisleys mirroring one another is repeated alternately with a stylized arrowhead forming an extra layer of design above the tanjir. A crimson strip of (macrame) tasselled fringes is sewn with a machine to each (warp) end.
Although from its design distribution, it could be categorized as a (kirking_shawl), similar shawls of the era that were common in a woman’s trousseau with the explicit purpose to be paired with their Sunday bests for church services after the wedding were usually woven in muted colours. Its loud colour pallet thus makes it a unique example of a long_shawl of that period.
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