Textile Treasure from the Art Institute of Chicago

At the Persian Knot Gallery, we celebrate the art and the artisans from around the world that create wonderful pieces that are not only beautiful but also functional. We have a number of very fine handcrafted antique and vintage Tapestries & Textiles handcrafted between the 1700s to late the 1800s. The Tapestries & Textiles Collection includes Kashmiri & Paisley Shawls, Suzani Embroidery Textiles from Europe, Central Asia, African handwoven Tapestries & Textiles, North and South American Textiles, Quilts, and Coverlets.

One of the very special items in this collection is the Kashmiri Shawl from the 1700s. This was handcrafted in the Kashmir region of northwest India from the late 1700s. It is a very rare "Pieced Shawl" which is hand sewed pieced Kashmiri shawl. It is made of antique textile pieces that have carefully been sewed together to make a beautiful design. It is truly all hand weaved museum piece textile. It came from the personal collection of the Head Curator of the Textile Department at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Most of the antique shawls known today are the “Paisley” shawls from the 1800s that used the concept and design of this original piece and were machine woven in the town of Paisley Scotland. They are very beautiful, valuable, and collectible but not as rare as the Pieced Kashmiri Shawl featured in this blog.

At the Persian Knot Gallery, we believe in reducing our negative impact on the environment. We do this by helping our clients to reduce their carbon footprint by maintaining the rugs that they buy from us.

As our rugs were produced over 75 to 100 years ago and can be used for another 100 years if washed and maintained regularly.

We believe it’s a win-win approach: enjoy the beauty of an artisan handwoven rug whose quality and workmanship will provide use and joy for generations while reducing the negative impact on the climate.