After visiting the shawl exhibition at Norwich Cathedral, I became interested in shawls. However, I do not know as much as I would like to, as unlike quilts, there are very few books on the subject. However, they are very pretty. Shawls largely went out of fashion in the 1870's, due to a change in fashion, when dresses with bustles made wearing shawls very difficult. Still, they were fashionable for over 100 years.
This is a block printed woollen shawl. It took great skill to block print the designs accurately. Each colour would have required a different block, and these had to be matched up accurately. However, these were much less expensive than the woven shawls, as 30 or 40 could be made in the time it took to weave one large shawl.
The woollen shawls were generally used as light summertime wraps, or for evening wear.
So colourful.....
I am going to visit Norwich Museum totry to find out more. The important centres for shawl making were Norwich, Edinburgh and of course Paisley in Scotland.
Sometimes, it is possible to see the tiny resgistration dots which helped to align the different blocks of colour....
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