Motif from Kashmir Shawl: Color Zurdee Kaphooree (Yellow and Betel color), No. 9, By Order of Mahummud Azeem Khan, Russia
One of group of eight textile designs made in Kashmir and sent to England in 1823 by British trader, William Moorcroft for use in the shawl making industry. These textile designs are the only surviving from a group of 34 drawings he sent, as part of his personal interesr in making British shawls supreme over all competitors. They are all painted on paper in brilliant colored gouache and varnished. Each shows a large stylized Paisley "cone" set in a field and are signed on the verso "William Moorcroft, Kashmeer, 1823", numbered, inscribed with the color of the ground in Kashmiri vernacular, and, on all but two, with the name and country of the person who commissioned the original shawl. In England, they would have been translated to graph paper to create mise-en-cartes for the guidance of a weaver.
This design, titled "Zurdee Kaphooree [yellow and betel color]", contains a large paisley "cone", outlined with yellow, and decorated with scrolling branches with stylized flowers and leaves. The lower part of the cone is decorated with scrolling red branches with brown leaves. The upper part of the cone and the background are decorated with an interlacing ribbon filled with an undulating garland with tiny flowers of three petals, colored with either red or purple, green leavves, and outlined with a white line with purple stipples, that stands out over a pattern of interlacing branches with green leaves and tiny stylized flowers with blue petals. Inside the cone, another ribbon forms a smaller paisley cone shape, and is decorated with an undulating garland with small rosettes with either purple or white petals and larger stylized flowers with red and purple petals.
This design, titled "Zurdee Kaphooree [yellow and betel color]", contains a large paisley "cone", outlined with yellow, and decorated with scrolling branches with stylized flowers and leaves. The lower part of the cone is decorated with scrolling red branches with brown leaves. The upper part of the cone and the background are decorated with an interlacing ribbon filled with an undulating garland with tiny flowers of three petals, colored with either red or purple, green leavves, and outlined with a white line with purple stipples, that stands out over a pattern of interlacing branches with green leaves and tiny stylized flowers with blue petals. Inside the cone, another ribbon forms a smaller paisley cone shape, and is decorated with an undulating garland with small rosettes with either purple or white petals and larger stylized flowers with red and purple petals.
Artwork Details
- Title: Motif from Kashmir Shawl: Color Zurdee Kaphooree (Yellow and Betel color), No. 9, By Order of Mahummud Azeem Khan, Russia
- Artist: Anonymous, Indian, 19th century
- Date: ca. 1822–23
- Medium: Gouache on paper, varnished
- Dimensions: sheet: 14 1/8 x 5 7/8 in. (35.9 x 14.9 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962
- Object Number: 62.600.235(4)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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