Norwich Shawls

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By Helen Hoyte

From the twelfth century Norfolk had been an important textile producing centre with Norwich, as one of England’s medieval staple cities, responsible for the maintenance of a high standard of cloth manufacture. On this long tradition of fine weaving, the industry flowered throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Quality worsteds, beautiful brocades and damasks of silk and wool, linen or cotton mixtures were marketed all over Europe, bringing fame and great prosperity to the city. With the rapid rise in demand for exotic shawls at the end of the 18th century, Norwich, with its tradition of textile expertise, had manufacturers who were among the first to meet the challenge of making the quality cloth, which the fashionable elite required for their shawls. Of the enormous quantity of European shawls manufactured during the 19th century, many of the finest were made in Norwich. Norfolk Museum’s textile collection at Carrow House, Norwich, includes a wide range of beautiful examples.

During the eighteenth century increasing quantities of luxurious and unusual textiles were imported into Europe from the near and far East. Among these goods were magnificent shawls from Kashmir; light, warm, with the quality to drape well, they found increasing favour with the fashionable world. Made from the under wool of the Tibetan goat, the imported shawls were soft, silky, beautifully coloured and - having taken a long time to weave - very expensive. The fashion at the end of the century for thin muslin dresses made the cashmire shawls much sought after; they quickly became a symbol of the wearer’s wealthy status; were often a cherished token of an admirer’s affection, and in the 19th century invited awe and respect for the wearer.

As the popularity of owning shawls grew, European manufacturers spent time and money in trying to make a cloth which would be comparable in quality, and much cheaper to produce than the cashmire fabric. In Britain, traditional weaving centres like Norwich, Edinburgh, and Paisley began to manufacture shawls from the end of the 18th century. One of the first to be successful in making the necessary fine, soft material which would match that from Kashmir, was the master weaver, Alderman John Harvey, at his manufactory in Colegate, Norwich. In 1788 he used a particularly finely spun worsted-yarn weft (which had earned a Royal Society commendation) with a silk warp for strength, and it is clear that he had this cloth in mind for the manufacture of shawls. Later he was joined by P.J.Knight, an entrepreneur, who gained prominence and a notable success in 1792, for weaving a shawl-counterpane, which he presented to King George III and Queen Charlotte. Measuring 12 feet (3.6cm) square, the Royal Counterpane was woven with fine worsted-wool on a silk warp. It was seamless with the royal coat of arms in the centre, surrounded by a wide border of flowers and leaves; all had been embroidered in coloured wools with fine darning stitches. A similar counterpane in the Carrow House museum collection, made about 1792, is said to be the prototype. It is a remarkable textile and has recently been conserved. Another counterpane known to have been made at the time for the Hobart family, has been cut up and now furnishes a bed in one of the state rooms at Blickling Hall in Norfolk.

By 1793 P.J.Knights - now appointed Shawl Maker to her Majesty - was making and selling shawling-dresses, shawls, scarves and gentlemen’s waistcoat shapes also at his emporium in the Strand, London. It is recorded that Knights employed sewing girls, who decorated the early shawls by darning the patterns into the fabric, similarly to those on the embroidered Royal Counterpane. A letter, written about 1800 by a Lady Jermyn, records her visit to a house in the city, where she observed four girls sitting round a table, darning patterned borders into shawls, using coloured wools. The museum collection has early examples of these shawls; they have simple bordered patterns of flowers and leaves, darned into the silk/wool fabric. The technique is confirmed, as it is possible to see a disparity in the quality of darning on each of the four sides on one of the shawls in the collection.

Early in the first decade of the 19th century, designs began to be woven into the shawls on draw-looms. In imitation of the Indian, the design style and influence is apparent in the early long-shawls. They measured around 2½m x lm, with deep borders at either end, which included variations of the Indian motif known as the butah. In Norwich it was called the pine, in France the palme, and now is known to the world as the Paisley pattern. These patterns were woven into the fine worsted and silk fabric with a thicker woollen yarn; known in Norwich as fillover, they were sometimes advertised for sale as ‘filled shawls’. Working with the web face down on the loom, the weaver followed the design-pattern which had been worked out on point (graph) paper, where each division showed the number of warp and weft threads to the quarter inch. A very early technique called fingering, had women working beside the weaver, who, as he wove the body of the cloth, they inserted small runs of wool to built up patterns. When weaving was finished, the web was cut from the loom; taken to the manufactory where all loose ends on the back of the weave were cropped, either by hand, or later, by machine, before being finished ready for sale, At the beginning of the 19th century weaving in Norwich was - as it had always been - an important cottage industry, and many of the old houses in the city today have the long horizontal windows, essential light for the old weavers. At the beginning of the century weaving was a profitable craft for the workers, and it was usual for the whole family to support the weaver. Sons served apprenticeships as drawboys; their job was to follow the ‘draw’ instructions on the point paper and by pulling the correct cords they changed the shed on the loom, so building up the pattern. (In some of the early shawls in the Carrow House museum collection, it is possible to see mistakes, where some drawboy has been less than attentive). Women kept the shuttles and pirns filled with wools and silks for the weaver, and continued to wheel-spin yarn, until power-driven spinning machines were introduced.

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