Important Notice

10 ft x 4 ft 8 in
c. 1920s


Jamewar literally means a fabric worn over the robe or 'jama', which was purchased by the yard or 'war'. Jamewar shawls were popular among royalty and nobility. This long wool shawl was hand woven using the special 'kanni' technique, where toothpick like sticks with thread wrapped around them were used to create the pattern. These minute sticks are passed through finely woven Pashmina wool shawls - a process that is painstakingly long. Sometimes, weavers are barely able to complete a square inch of a shawl in a day's work, which results in a very limited output, making these shawls extremely precious. It is said that some of the 'kanni' shawls that were woven for the royal courts could even take a decade to be completed.

The deep field of this shawl is woven in a myriad colours with a large scale paisley or 'boteh' pattern. It has also has a rose motif, woven with a floral mosaic composed of pinks, blues, greens and reds. The appliquéd borders on the ends are hand woven in patchwork and hand embroidered using the 'souzani' technique, with natural/vegetable dyes.

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