Imitation Kashmiri shawls were produced in large numbers in Europe in the second half of the 19th and also in the 20th centuries. The first mechanised production of such shawls was made possible by the invention of the Jacquard loom in France in the 1820s. Machine woven paisley shawl, based on traditional hand-woven Kashmiri designs. paisley shawl, shawls

Silk shawl worn by Miss Jean Young at her marriage to Mr. William Hill 0n 13th January 1843.Shawl in paisley pattern predominantly red and green. Fringing as part of weave.costume, female

Charlemont & Co., operated out of the Academy Studio, 114 Elizabeth Street from 1890 to 1898. The sitter’s identity has been established as a Mrs. Merritt. While we know that she is not the Mrs Merritt who was to be the wife of the future Mayor of Kew, there were two Mrs Merritts who were shopkeepers in High Street, Kew. Mrs Lucy Merritt operated a bootmaker’s shop, and subsequently a “boot warehouse” from 1888 until the 1920s. Miss Laura Merritt established a dressmaker’s shop in High Street in 1910. Her business also lasted until the 1920s, albeit changed to that of a bookseller and stationer. Silver albumen cabinet card by Charlemont & Co., who operated out of the Academy Studio, 114 Elizabeth Street from 1890 to 1898. In this portrait of Mrs Merritt, she is posed gazing directly at the lens, thus achieving a potentially more intimate relationship with the viewer. All that is revealed however in this supposedly more direct pose is her face. As with an earlier generation, her hair is centrally parted and flattened to accommodate her bonnet, which is surmounted by feathers. The detail in her coat-dress is sharply revealed by new photographic processes that allowed firms like Charlemont & Co., to capture greater light and shade, as well as the detail of fabrics. The entire garment is beaded with what is probably Parisian jet. The beading is arranged in a ‘paisley’ design. The paisley pattern was to become ubiquitous in the 19th century as a design on everything from carpets, to shawls, to clothing.Mrs Merrittcharlemont & co., mrs merritt