1835 Turnover shawl

1835 Turnover shawl
Date	1835-1850
Category	Women
Item	Shawl
Fabric	Silk and wool, woven pattern
Decoration	Appliqué
Wearer	-
Maker	-
Acc. no.	HC.S-0.84

1835-1850 A turnover shawl in wool.

The shawl spread out
Detail of the wider border
The corner of the narrow borders
The reverse of the corner of the narrow borders
A corner where the narrow and wide borders meet
The joined corner turned over

Description

Turnover shawls have plain fields with the borders sewn on; two adjoining sides were sewn with the reverse showing so that when folded diagonally they would show face up above the other two adjoining sides. Sometimes, as here, one pair of borders is narrower than the other two.

The field of the shawl is plain sand-coloured wool twill, and the borders have been sewn on.

The ground of the wider border, 7⅛" wide, is mostly black, separated by a wavy line from the red ground on the edge; the pattern is woven in polychrome wool with ivory silk details. The narrow border is a version of the red section of the wider border, cut along the wavy edge and appliquéd on to the field. It is 2¼" wide at the widest part of the curves.

Each pair of borders has a mitred corner. The other two corners have a 7⅛" long piece of the narrow border sewn face up at right angles over the end of the wide border so that when the shawl is folded the narrow border appears continuous.

The fringe is sewn on and made of fawn fine silk threads; only fragments remain but it was probably 2" deep on a ³⁄₁₆" wide heading.

The shawl measures 55" by 56½".