HOUSTON, TX.- Coveted in courtly circles in India, Iran, Africa and Europe, and worn by both men and women, Kashmir shawls were the ultimate transregional luxury good for hundreds of years, sparking artistic exchange and catalyzing the formation of global textile industries between the 16th and 19th centuries. On view through November 29, From Persia to Paisley: Global Luxury and the Kashmir Shawl is a special installation of 20 of these remarkable shawls, sashes, and fragments in the Hossein Afshar Art of the Islamic Worlds Galleries at the MFAH.
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Pashmina Jewels: The Khanuja Collection of Kashmir Shawls
A refined volume on Kashmir shawls, textile art, and collecting
Explore Kashmir shawls through pashmina, pattern, craftsmanship, textile history, collecting, and the extraordinary beauty of the Khanuja Collection.
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The Kashmir shawls and paintings on display show how a single textile transformed global fashion, fueled industrial innovation, and shaped collecting tastes across Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. Handwoven from pashm, the extraordinarily fine and resilient underhair of Himalayan goats, a single shawl required months of coordinated labor among expert designers, dyers, and weavers. Each design motif was built thread by thread using the complex kani technique, a form of twill tapestry weaving with small wooden bobbins developed by Kashmiri artisans to construct intricate, multicolored surfaces.
In the 19th century, demand for Kashmir shawls surged across Britain and Napoleonic France, thanks to Empress Josephine, a French fashion icon. In Lyon, a programmable loom developed by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1801 made possible machine-made Kashmir shawls in Europe, marking a pivotal moment in the history of industrial technology.
Instantly recognizable as a status symbol, Kashmir shawls adorned the shoulders of Mughal Indian emperors and the waists of Zand Persian dancers. Iranian and European paintings demonstrate the varied fashions for wearing them. The shawls on display include the first Islamic textiles to enter the Museum’s collections as gifts of Annette Finnigan, a Texas businesswoman, suffragette, philanthropist and avid traveler, who donated hundreds of artworks from around the world to the Museum nearly 100 years ago. In addition, there are important loans from The al-Sabah Collection at the MFAH as well as private lenders.
Highlights from the works on view include:
• Waist Sash (Patka), Mughal India, early 17th century, goat hair (pashm). The waist sash, or patka, was a prominent element of Indian male courtly dress, indicating status, sophistication and wealth. Patkas were typically woven in muslin cotton or silk with metal-wrapped threads. Early pashm patkas, like this one, are rare survivors.
• Dorukha Shawl, India, Kashmir, c. 1870–80, goat hair (pashm). This vibrant dorukha, or double-faced shawl, meticulously woven and stitched to be reversible, exemplifies Kashmiri weaving virtuosity. Gifted to the museum by Miss Annette Finnigan, it was one of the first textiles to enter the museum’s collection.
• Long Shawl (Palledar), India, Kashmir, 1805–15, goat hair (pashm). The classic buta, or teardrop motif, and deep red color of this stunning shawl were favored in India, Iran and Napoleonic France.
• Signed by Antony Berrus, French, 1815–1883, European Long Shawl, France, 1860–75, sheep wool or possibly imported goat hair (pashm). This magnificent jacquard loom-woven shawl bears the signature of Antony Berrus (1815–1883), director and designer of one of the most successful textile ateliers in Paris.
• Kashmir Loom shawl, 2024 season. Contemporary Indian fashion houses such as Kashmir Loom are leading a revitalization of artisanal Kashmir shawl production using historic patterns and techniques as well as new designs.
• Muhammad Baqir, Iranian, active 1740s–1800s, Dancer, Zand Iran, AH 1192/1778–79. This painting of a lavishly attired court dancer presents the Iranian fashion of wearing a red Kashmiri patka with a large boteh pattern at her waist.
• Alfred Emile Léopold Stevens, Belgian, 1823–1906, Woman in a Paisley Shawl (La toilette de bal), c. 1870. The elegant lady of this portrait strikes a pose that emphasizes her colorful, deluxe Kashmir shawl, the ultimate fashion status symbol in 1860s France.
