PLATE FIVE
Length: 48 inches
Width : 6 3/4 inches
Warp: 224 per inch
Weft: 224-256 per inch depending on color
Condition: fragment
Collection: formerly author; present whereabouts unknown

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Plate Five is also a fragment, albeit a considerably larger one, from one of the end panels of a typical LCP long man's wearing shawl. It is perhaps the oldest example of the small flower style with three multiple rows of plants set in the usual drop-repeat fashion. The flower, undoubtedly a rose, is realistically rendered including the correct stem and leaf structure and small root at the base. Needless to say it is another remarkable survivor and artistic statement.

In the early 1980 I sponsored an intensive microscopic and fiber analysis of a number of Classic Period Kashmir Shawls and this example was included. The study was carried out Professor Michael Ryder of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland who was at the time and still remains one of the leading authorities on wool. Perhaps at some later date I will publish the complete finding of this research but for now only the small portion pertaining to this example and some other information about the raw materials of Classic Period shawls will be mentioned.