Shawl

As a nineteenth-century contemporary of the exceedingly popular paisley and Kashmir shawls, the Chinese embroidered shawl’s exotic flare held similar mass-appeal among Victorian women. Now recognized primarily as part of Spain’s national costume, it was not until the Chinese shawl’s resurgence in popularity in the 1920s that the name "Spanish shawl" became synonymous with this distinctly Chinese export. When the Europe-bound shawls from China first gained notoriety around 1820, they were referred to as "China crape shawls" (Worth 1986:47). Not only did the novel themes and foreign motifs appeal to a fashionable Victorian woman’s taste for the "Orient," the intricately worked embroidery was admired by those whose childhood lessons in needlework had fostered appreciation for the fine workmanship. 

Starting in the early nineteenth century, workshops were set up in Canton, China specifically for the purpose of turning out these embellished accessories. Chinese workers were paired up on a single frame, seated across from one another with both women working towards the center of the taut silk. One woman’s stitches often mirrored the other’s work, resulting in a symmetrically composed shawl. Utilizing satin stitch almost entirely, with minimal addition of Peking knots and chain stitches, these pieces abounded with flowers, vines, butterflies, and birds. More unusual examples included images of explicitly Chinese figures, architecture, and symbolic iconography.

Although this piece dating from 1865 to1879, is an example of a Chinese shawl at the end of their vogue, the rarity of such distinctly Chinese motifs, careful composition, and delicately executed embroidery from this era is cause for special attention. The embroidery is so finely worked as to make it nearly impossible to differentiate the back side from the front, a fact that is captured in the accompanying digital photograph. A virtual mirror image is created when comparing a front view of the corner snail with a picture of the same motif taken from the back side.

For further discussion of the history of the Spanish shawl, see the article "Unwrapping the ´Spanish´ Shawl’s Chinese Past", in the HLATC Newsletter, Fall 2001.