A NARRATIVE KASHMIR SHAWLNORTH INDIA, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURYA NARRATIVE KASHMIR SHAWLNORTH INDIA, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURYPashmina wool ground tamboured with silk showing characters from the Shahnama of Firdawsi and Khamsa of Nizami, within a border decorated with figures and animals, two ends with a further border of alternating coloured cartouches and tassles71 1/4 x 67 1/8in. (181 x 170.5cm.)This richly decorated shawl would have no doubt been a time-consuming and costly commission. For a single shawl the annual fleeces of four goats was required with wool so fine it is one sixth the thickness of a human hair. This pashmina wool ground is then generously embroidered with silk, that most precious of fabrics, with rich and intricate patterns much like a fine Kashmir map shawl which was sold in these Rooms, 27 March 2022, lot 96. A shawl depicting a map of Srinagar commissioned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh (r.1801-1839), now in the Srinagar Museum, took the artist Ghulam Mohammad Kulu 37 years to complete, by which time his patron had passed away. Another pair of shawls were commissioned by Ranjit Singh, almost certainly embroidered, for which he paid a staggeringly large sum of 50,000 rupees in advance. Pieces befitting royalty, another shawl depicting scenes from Sikandarnama dating to 1852, was commissioned by Maharaja Gulab Singh (r.1846-1856), first ruler of Jammu and Kashmir (Sue Stronge, Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, London, 1999, p.128). Pieces clearly befitting royalty, another shawl sent as a gift to Queen Victoria is now at the Victoria & Albert Museum on loan from the Royal Collection (ROYAL.743). This impressive and charmingly decorated embroidered shawl (amli rumal) is a fine example of the artistic mastery of Indian textile production. Needle-work embroidery was introduced into Kashmir originally as a faster and cheaper alternative to weaving given the high taxation placed on woven goods. Intended to imitate the woven textiles it soon became clear that chainstitch embroidery offered a new opportunity for a freedom and ambition of design not possible on a loom. By the 1830s a new genre arose incorporating new motifs with human figures and animals, moving away from Mughal inspired floral design (Stronge, op.cit.). Before long literary themes, as found on our shawl, became popular subjects. More elaborate shawls combined verses and scenes from Persian romances such as the Khamsa of Nizami (see Irwin, The Kashmir Shawl, London, 1973, pls.26 and 27; Victoria & Albert Museum, IS 0803). Interestingly and rather charmingly the scenes on our shawl do not relate to one specific literary source but several. Many of the cartouches draw upon the tale of Bahram Gur from the Khamsa of Nizami and we see the king in various pavilions with various princesses. Further to this we also find depictions of Kay Khusraw, Kay Kavus, and Jamshid from the Shahnama of Firdausi. We also have a scene showing Sikandar Shah (Iskandar) which whilst possibly also relating to the Shahnama, likely also draws upon the Sikandarnama which again relates it to the aforementioned Gulab Singh shawl of 1852. Other figural shawls have sold in these Rooms, 18 June 2019, lot 55 and 26 June 2020 lot 33.细节 A NARRATIVE KASHMIR SHAWLNORTH INDIA, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURYPashmina wool ground tamboured with silk showing characters from the Shahnama of Firdawsi and Khamsa of Nizami, within a border decorated with figures and animals, two ends with a further border of alternating coloured cartouches and tassles71 1/4 x 67 1/8in. (181 x 170.5cm.)