c. 1849-1855

Long Shawl

Although the design of the center of this Indian shawl is bilaterally symmetrical, the rest of its pattern pivots 180 degrees around a central point, a French innovation of 1849. French influence is also seen in the invasion of plantlike forms in the outer horizontal borders, a favored decorative scheme for mid-nineteenth-century shawls. The vertical borders have a distinctive color and a stiff, sandy texture that suggests they were made in Sealkot, an Indian town that specialized in weaving vertical shawl borders.