#2345 $650
Ribbon weave silk chiffon shawl, early 20th century
Vintage accessories like shawls add a one-of-a-kind touch to any wardrobe. With its soft silky drape, this colorful shawl is the perfect cover for bare shoulders.
It is fashioned from pale beige silk chiffon/satin ribbon weave and embellished with delicate printed floral paisley medallions (botehs). The ends of the shawl have faggoted hems.
The boteh or "paisley" motif, originally borrowed from imported Kashmir shawls in the 1790s, found an enduring place in the vocabulary of European print design. The characteristic teardrop shape evolved from stylized plant forms.
The shape lends itself to myriad elaborate variations. The boteh motif was first reproduced for European textile production in Paisley, Scotland. Every connoisseur of fine shawls should own at least one fine boteh shawl, since that motif was the historical symbol and standard of fine Kashmir shawls when they were first imported into Europe in the 18th century.
The condition is excellent.
It measures: 72" by 23 1/2".
