In the early 19th century, luxurious shawls from Kashmir became indispensable accessories for fashionable European women. The rich patterns on these imported hand-woven shawls usually incorporated the boteh form, an ancient Persian motif based on the tree of life. By the mid-century, machine-made imitations were being produced in Europe. This shawl recalls a finely woven wool-and-silk shawl (1860–75), probably French and housed at The Met.
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