Jamdani is known as shadow work. Woven in Dacca which was then in Bengal but now in Bangladesh. The rainy season was the best time for weaving the finely spun yarn when the humidity produced a moisture in the air which protected the delicate threads from breaking under the tension of the loom. This apron may have been a square neckerchief altered into an apron with the lace added, but it must have been done in the late 18th c for the apron to have been fashionable. Or it may have been made up from yardage in this country and the lace added. However it was made it is very delicate looking (but very strong) and unusual piece.
Woven in Dacca, Bangledash using the finest of cotton threads. This shawl would have been for export or for Western women to fold into a triangle and use as a shawl.
The borders with a flower meander in white cotton, which shines against the cotton muslin ground, a narrow inner border or guard stripe with small stylised flowerheads, the outer with larger blossoms.
5ft; 1.50 m square
There are two very small marks centre left. Another bottom right. I have placed a pinhead next to them, so you can see the size. There is an old darn to one corner flower. There are light brownish markings where the shawl has been folded and stored. I feel fairly sure that a conservator could remove these.
Price: on request
Ref N°: 1411
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