This shawl does something that very few pieces in the world attempt: it combines two of Kashmir’s most demanding textile arts in a single piece. The ground is first woven using the Jamawar tapestry technique — a full-field woven pattern built up at the loom with multiple coloured threads. Then, once the weaving is complete, a soznikar takes a fine needle and adds a second layer of Sozni silk embroidery over the woven surface, enriching the design with detail and dimension that weaving alone cannot achieve.
The result is a shawl of extraordinary visual complexity — and extraordinary value. Two artisans, two techniques, one piece. The rose pink palette softens the richness of the composition, giving it a femininity and lightness that belies the density of work beneath the surface.
At $3,800, this is the most labour-intensive piece in the Pashminahimalaya collection. It is priced not for what it is made of, but for what it took to make it.
