Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 9. (Budapest, 1966)

IPARMŰVÉSZETI MÚZEUM — MUSÉE DES ARTS DECORATIFS - Horváth, Vera: Kashmir Shawls in the Museum of Applied Arts

facturing trade came to a sudden end in Kashmir. As a consequence of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Kashmir has apruptly lost its main market, France.

22 Besides the goat disease already mentioned, there was yet another reason at least equally important: the much lower price of the imitations, whereby genuine Kashmir products became non-competitive. Then, almost from one day to the other, the wearing of shawls got out of fashion in Europe. But for some hardly traceable remains, the art of shawl-weaving soon came to an end in Kashmir,

23 but the gathering of shawls was started almost simultaneously. The Budapest Museum of Applied Arts has ranged the first Kashmir shawl into its collection in the year 1883. Including to-day 30 pieces, the collection is based upon the bequest of the art collector Dr. Emil Delmár ; after his death in 1911, 11 Kashmir shawls and fragments got into the Museum. Hardly changed in number between the two world wars, the collection has increased since 1949 by way of purchase, donation and bequeathing. There are no pieces made earlier than the XlXth century to be found in the Budapest collection. The earliest pieces of the collection (fig. 1—3.) are fragments manufactured at the very beginning of the XlXth century. They are hand-woven and, according to usual Kashmir technique, the two-and-two twilled pattern was brought on horizontally spanned warps by means of spools varying according to the different colours. Figs. 1 and 2 show a striped fabric type on a polychromatic ground, with group warping. The wefts build up a motif composed of stems, flowers and cypresses. On one of the fragments (fig. 1.) this decoration is bordered by a flexible circular lattice ornamentation well known from Indian carpets. The other fragment (fig. 3.) shows a conical polychromatic pattern spread on a cream ground and composed of tendrils and leaves. Another fine shawl has also a cream ground (fig. 4.) while its decoration is composed of the more and the less conventionalized form of the cones framed by a double border. On this shawl the double border, as well as the length of the border and the large decorative pattern are indicative of the period; accordingly, the shawl was woven about 1830; in compliance with Kashmir practice which, by the XlXth century, has become a current usage, it was made in several working phases out of several pieces which were subsequently seamed on the face by means of undiscernable decorative threading. The finest piece of the collection (fig. 5.) represents the type with the decorated central field. The floral and cypress decoration of the cream coloured main ground make up a narrow internal frame. In the double border the rosettes, cones and wave-lined pattern almost completely covers the red colour of the ground. As shown by the moderate decoration of the central field and 22 Irwin : op. cit. p. 18. 23 Kashmir Handicrafts. Delhi, June 1954. The Publications Division Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India. ; Irwin, J. : Indian Textiles in Historical Perspective. The MARG, 1962. No. 4. Vol. XV. pp. 4 — 6.; Jasleen Dhamija : The Survey of Embroidery Traditions. The MARG, 1964. No. 11. Vol. XVII. p. 11. 11. Shawl fragment, embroidered, Kashmir, about 1830 — 1850 8 Iparművészeti évkönyv IX.