The deep purple "paisley" handkerchief, which this Gray & Purple Paisley Handkerchief was copied from, came to the Albany Institute of Art & History with no provenance. In the 1990's while visiting the Institute, paisley shawl expert Arlene Cooper assigned it a date of 1830, but left no indication of the dating methods used. In our research, we have seen similar designs dated much earlier than 1830. In India, known as a "buta" or "boteh", (meaning flower), the pattern was used to adorn all manner of items until the middle of the 18th century, and became popular globally when the East India Company began to import shawls and other textiles adorned with the motif in the early 18th century. It's popularity led to the town of Paisley in Scotland becoming a major manufacturer of shawls in the pattern, thus the name "paisley" was adopted.
We reproduced the original handkerchief in two tones of purple, which can be found here. This Gray & Purple Paisley Handkerchief is recolored with a soft gray background and the dark purple.
Our Gray & Purple Paisley Handkerchief:
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Measures approximately 34 inches square.
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100% hand loomed cotton mull.
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Hand printed and hand finished.
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To learn more about our Gray & Purple Paisley Handkerchief, and our other designs, visit About Our Handkerchiefs
