'Antique Kashmir Shawls' textile exhibit at Minasian Rug
29 Nov '07
3 min read
Minasian Textile Arts has opened "Wrapped in Beauty: The Allure of Antique Shawls" at its gallery space at 1244 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Running through January 26th, this exhibition features antique shawls of a wide range of designs and types from Kashmir, Persia and Europe.
All of the pieces on display are well over 100 years old and display dazzlingly intricate patterns, deep rich colors and incredibly fine workmanship.
As exhibition curator, renowned textile expert Joseph W. Fell has selected fine antique pieces from the Minasian Textile Arts inventory and from private collections, including his own. In the 19th century, fashionable women of the upper classes wore these shawls on any and all social occasions, weather permitting.
Indeed, so common were shawls at many gatherings that shawls often displayed embroidered identifying marks in order to avoid mix-ups and confusion over who owned which shawl. In the present day, these symbols of luxury and prestige are an almost vanished art form -- that makes them a rare and undervalued "find" in the textile and decorative arts marketplace.
Long known for its inventory of antique Oriental rugs, Minasian Rug Company presents its Textile Arts division's second exhibition of the year. Brothers Armen and Carnig Minasian are well recognized enthusiasts of textiles as art.
Armen serves on the Textile Board of the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnig is on the Advisory Council of The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. "Until recently, textiles have been considered "step-children" of the fine and decorative arts" relates Carnig Minasian.
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