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French Shawl Design

Patron Commissioned by Lapworth & Riley British
1837
Not on view
This intricate design resembles a miniature carpet but actually relates to a printed shawl. An Inscription on the reverse indicates that the drawing was made in Paris for the London firm Lapworth & Riley. The imagery includes paisley motifs in each corner. Different cultures assigned various names to these distinctive curved shapes. In India, they were called butas (flowers) or "mangoes"; in Britain, "pines" or "cones"; in France, "tadpoles" or "pines"; and in Austria, "little onions." A shawl based on this drawing would have incorporated a different color field in each corner, allowing the wearer to display a hanging corner of blue, red, green, or black depending on how the garment was folded.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: French Shawl Design
  • Patron: Commissioned by Lapworth & Riley (active London 1837–1885)
  • Artist: Anonymous, French, 19th century
  • Date: 1837
  • Medium: Gouache
  • Dimensions: sheet: 8 5/16 x 8 7/8 in. (21.1 x 22.5 cm)
  • Classifications: Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1954
  • Object Number: 54.606.11
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Oriental Carpet Design
Lapworth & Riley
Anonymous, French, 19th century
ca. 1837
French Shawl Design
Lapworth & Riley
Anonymous, French, 19th century
1837
The Lake of Zug, Joseph Mallord William Turner British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) with reductive techniques over graphite
The Lake of Zug
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1843
Lady Lilith, Dante Gabriel Rossetti British, Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor)
Lady Lilith
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Henry Treffry Dunn
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The Entombment, Sir Edward Burne-Jones British, Green, blue, brown and touches of reddish bodycolor, heightened with white gouache (bodycolor) on green paper
The Entombment
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
1879

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