1860 Blue Silk Shawl

Date: c.1860-1900
Modeled by: Heather
Location: Parlor of our 1914 Bungalow in San Jose
Price: Not for sale
This wonderful shawl was made by carefully appliqueing blue satin to a black net backing. We don’t really know how to date this item, if anyone knows we would appreciate hearing from you. Blue was a popular color in the 1860s when the first aniline dyes were produced. We have no way of testing whether the silk was dyed that way or not. In the 1860s it was also popular to have silk over lace shawls. But this shawl could easily be from a much later period as well, probably up to the turn-of-the-century.