An 18th century (?) embroidered shawl: a new TRC acquisition

As part of the TRC research for the Encyclopedia of Embroidery from Scandinavia and Western Europe (London, Bloomsbury), TRC recently acquired a very fine cotton shawl (TRC 2021.0114), which was described by the previous owner as being late nineteenth century in date. It measures 210 x 60 cm. When we studied the shawl, it became more and more likely that the shawl is much older than first thought.

The ground cloth is hand woven, and two lengths of cloth were sewn together to create its final size. All the seams and hems are extremely neatly hand sewn. The shawl is decorated with individual motifs and sprigs, randomly placed, including bunches and vases of flowers (including tulips, carnations and lilies), sometimes with butterflies, as well as two lions, dogs, swans, and a peacock. These were worked in stem stitch, satin stitch and a darning stitch/filling stitch, all in a thick cotton yarn. Based on the quality of the cloth (probably imported cotton), and the neatness of the sewing, it clearly was a valued piece of work.

The random style of the embroidered flowers and animals would seem to be seventeenth century in date. Is this shawl really so old? I doubt it, but it could well be early to mid-eighteenth century in date. The embroidered motifs certainly belong to the 'Oriental' fashion that had become popular in that century.

An interesting detail, and one that gives it an ahhh moment and further indicates that the shawl was a cherished garment, is the sheer number of times the fine cloth ground had been repaired with hand darning - it suggests that someone had regularly worn and loved the shawl.

We attach five photographs with details of the embroidery on the shawl. We would appreciate any comments and/or further information.

Gillian Vogelsang, 12 January 2021

Detail of embroidery on 18th century (?) shawl (TRC 2021.0114).