FRO M P IN E C ON E TO P AISL E Y: T H E UBI Q UITOUS B O T E H – TAASA Review September 2014

Christina Sumner T he boteh motif, now commonly known as paisley pattern, is as familiar to us as stripes, polka dots and herringbone.

Resembling a rounded leaf or teardrop whose pointed tip curls gently over, the boteh motif is strongly associated, by students of textile history, with the Kashmir shawl industry and, from the late 1700s, with the production of imitative shawls in European centres, including the town of Paisley in southern Scotland. Wool shawl, jacquard weave, Paisley, Scotland, 1860-70.

Collection: Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Sydney...