Pure Kashmiri Pashmina Kani Shawl — Sand & Rose

A pure Kashmiri pashmina Kani shawl on a pale sand ground, handwoven with rose and ochre flowering sprays across the field, framed on all four sides by a deep scalloped border of paisley and blossom, and closed at each end with a colonnade of rose and gold stripes.

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.

Three colours and no more — rose, ochre and the sand of the ground itself. Kani is usually a demonstration of how many colours a weaver can carry; this is the opposite argument, and the harder one to win. With so few tones the design has to hold on drawing alone, so the flowers are given room to breathe and the border does the heavy work. The effect is closer to an old fresco than to a shawl.

Practically, this is the piece for someone who wants Kani without the colour — it sits under cream, camel, white and every neutral without competing, and it is the most daytime-wearable shawl in the collection.

Details

• Pure Kashmiri pashmina
• Kani handwoven on the loom, not embroidered or printed
• Flowering field with a scalloped border on all four sides and striped colonnade end panels
• 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.