Inside the Story · No. 13 · Saturday 10 October 2026 · Craft · South Asia

One Yellow Boteh

This paisley was woven, not printed: eight botehs on each end of a Kashmir shawl from the 1790s, and one of them is yellow.

The inside story of a design inspired by a Kashmir shawl woven between 1785 and 1800.

Apricot Long Shawl, The Cleveland Museum of Art

The source

Apricot Long Shawl2/2 twill tapestry weave, double interlocked; wool · India, Kashmir, Afghan period, 1785 to 1800 · Overall: 325 x 104.1 cm (127 15/16 x 41 in.)The Cleveland Museum of Art · Apricot Long Shawl, 1785 to 1800. India, Kashmir, Afghan period. 2/2 twill tapestry weave, double interlocked; wool. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Arlene C. Cooper, 2008.215. CC0. · object 2008.215 · CC0View at The Cleveland Museum of Art ↗

Kashmir shawls were woven in 2/2 twill tapestry, which the holding museum calls 'the equivalent of painting with colored weft threads'. Early ones had plain fields and plants at the ends, then vases of blossoming stems, then dense cone-shaped botehs of blossoms. Imitations woven in Paisley, Scotland, gave the motif its English name.

What we saw

Six parts, traced from the photograph

1The botehFirst, the boteh. A cone packed with blossoms, lying on its side, its tip curling over. Eight on each end.

2The vase on its standAt the foot of every boteh, a small vase on a footed stand, a round four-petal blossom above it and a flower on either side.

3The blossom sprigBetween the botehs, under each tip, a triangle of small blossoms: dark blue, cream, one crimson at the top.

4The edge borderAlong both long edges, a narrow woven border: a blue-grey cup flower, then a pair of red-outlined buds, again and again.

5The one yellow botehAnd at the top of one end, one boteh woven in yellow where all the others are cream.

6The rosette chainFraming each end, a chain of small rosettes in cream rings on a dark ground.

5 prints, each from a different part

Each print starts from a part of the source

From this partThe boteh

Print 1 · All-over

Boteh Half-drop

What if we kept only the boteh? The cone of blossoms, lifted whole.

Every flower as woven, turned upright, each column dropped half a step. At its own size.

Repeat: Half drop repeat · tile 2856 × 1560 px · 48.4 × 26.4 cm
Made for: Winter-wear and scarf exporters; stole and dupatta makers; ethnic dress-material wholesalers
Why it sells: A 12 cm boteh in a tight half-drop (16.1 x 13.2 cm repeat) with 7 thread colours reads as a Kashmir boteh from arm length, and the colour count points to digital, not screen, printing.

Stoles and dress material110 to 140 cm width7 coloursdigital print on modalviscose or wool-blend challisSeven colours

From this partThe vase on its stand

Print 2 · Buta

Vase Butti

Then the vase. Small enough to miss, under every boteh.

One vase, stood upright, spaced as a butti.

Repeat: Half drop repeat · tile 1592 × 2740 px · 27 × 46.4 cm
Made for: Boutique ethnic labels and festive kurta brands
Why it sells: A 6 cm butti on a 13.5 x 9.3 cm half-drop leaves most of the apricot ground open, the spacing a kurta takes, and the footed vase is a traditional motif that is not another paisley.

Men's and women's kurta110 cm width8 colours (5 if outlineblack and navy are merged)digital or rotary print on cotton cambric or rayonEight colours

From this partThe blossom sprig

Print 3 · All-over

Sprig Ditsy

And the sprig. The little triangle between two botehs.

Tossed in every direction, small, so the cloth can be cut any way.

Repeat: Straight repeat · tile 2400 × 2400 px · 40.6 × 40.6 cm
Made for: Export kidswear buyers; Western dress and blouse brands wanting an ethnic-leaning ditsy
Why it sells: A 3 cm non-directional toss cuts without waste and suits small garments; dark blossoms on apricot keep it warm rather than pastel-floral.

Kidswear and Western dresses140 cm width7 coloursrotary or digital print on cotton poplin or viscose crepeSeven colours

From this partThe edge border

Print 4 · Border

Edge Border

Then the thin edge nobody looks at.

Cup flower, buds, cup flower. Enlarged until it is a saree border.

Repeat: Border repeat · tile 2456 × 795 px · 41.6 × 13.5 cm
Made for: Surat saree process houses (border printing); dupatta makers
Why it sells: A 4-colour, 10.4 cm straight border repeat is cheap to engrave and carries its own apricot body, so one screen set gives body plus border.

Saree border and dupatta edge4.6 cm band on an apricot body4 coloursrotary screen or digital on polyester georgette or cottonFour colours

From this partThe boteh

Print 5 · Placement

One in Eight (stole end)

And the colour story. Why is one boteh yellow?

The whole end, as woven: eight botehs, and only the first one yellow.

Repeat: Placement print, not a repeat
Made for: Premium stole and shawl brands; museum-shop and gift scarf buyers
Why it sells: It is the shawl's own end at stole width, and the single yellow boteh puts the story on the product.

Stole and scarf end panel (placementboth ends)64 x 17 cm on a 70 x 200 cm stole with a plain apricot body8 coloursdigital printEight colours

The palette

Every colour here was already in the source.

#AE5D48Apricot · from the source

#B0825FWool cream · from the source

#6D433CMadder-brown outline · from the source

#563D3CWalnut black · from the source

#4A3E40Navy · from the source

#624E41Dark green · from the source

#853435Crimson · from the source

#A56D22Boteh yellow · from the source

#5D5A4EBorder blue-grey · from the source

#9B6C51Border red · from the source

Why now

Autumn and winter are shawl and stole season.

Previous storyGold on Black: the Bidri Iris All storiesBack to Inspiration

Source: Apricot Long Shawl, India, Kashmir, Afghan period, 1785 to 1800, 2/2 twill tapestry weave, double interlocked; wool. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Apricot Long Shawl, 1785 to 1800. India, Kashmir, Afghan period. 2/2 twill tapestry weave, double interlocked; wool. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Arlene C. Cooper, 2008.215. CC0., object 2008.215. CC0. View the object.

Facts from: clevelandart.org, vam.ac.uk.