While the square shawl (rumal) was worn most commonly by women, the long shawl (dochalla), characterised by its rectangular shape, was particularly favoured by men and was worn draped over the shoulder or around the body for warmth. The decorative repertoire for such shawls gradually expanded during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from elegant, minimally embellished shawls with intricate floral motifs, like the present shawl, or paisley forms (boteh) adorning the borders to expressive and expansive designs decorating all but the central field (Frank Ames, “Woven Legends: Carpets and Shawls of Kashmir,” in Pratapaditya Pal, The Arts of Kashmir, Milan, 2007, pp. 193-209, p.198).
Post Lot Text
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