Pure Kashmiri Pashmina Kani Shawl — Moss & Ochre

A pure Kashmiri pashmina Kani shawl in moss green and ochre, handwoven with a dense field of small flowering vines, a narrow scrolling border down both long sides, and a bold arched panel of stylised blossoms at each end.

Kani is the oldest and slowest of Kashmir's shawl techniques. The pattern isn't printed or embroidered onto the cloth — it is built into the weave itself, colour by colour, using small wooden bobbins called kanis. The weaver follows a coded pattern script and may complete only an inch or two in a day, which is why a piece like this is measured in months of work rather than hours.

The two halves of this shawl are drawn at completely different scales, and that is the whole design. The field is worked in the smallest motifs in the collection — leaves and buds a few millimetres across, repeating without pause. Then the end panel abandons all of it for large flat blocks of teal and gold, four or five times the size. Setting the finest work you can weave directly against the boldest is a confident thing to attempt, and it is why this piece looks entirely different folded over an arm than it does hanging full length.

Moss and ochre together are unusual and completely of the landscape — the colours of Swat and Kashmir in late autumn. It is a quiet shawl for daylight, and it suits a man as readily as a woman.

Details

• Pure Kashmiri pashmina
• Kani handwoven on the loom, not embroidered or printed
• Fine all-over vine field with scrolling side borders and a bold arched end panel
• Approx. 40" × 80"
• Dry clean only
• Handwoven in Kashmir

Each shawl is one of a kind. Slight irregularity in the weave is inherent to handloom work and is the mark of an authentic Kani piece.

Ships in Attan's branded box with a thank-you card, ready to gift.