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Lot Essay
In this scene, the shawls which were either woven or dyed in the previous two scenes are brought closer to completion thanks to the skill of the rafugar, a term which broadly applied to people skilled in needlework. This was a role that had barely existed before the 19th century: it seems that their main function was the repair of damaged shawls, or of warps which had become broken in the course of weaving (Levi-Strauss 1987, p.15). According to Moorcroft, only a short while before he wrote his account there were so few rafugars that the government did not even tax them. However, as the shawl industry became more commercialised they grew in number. Many found that training as a rafugar was easier than learning to weave. According to Moorcroft it took a two-year apprenticeship to become a shawl weaver, but becoming a rafugar required only two months of study. Consequently "many men applied themselves to learn the latter business after their beards had been bleached by age", and that even "their children are enabled to contribute towards the support of the family by their labour in this line" (Moorcroft 1823, p.33). This reference is neatly reflected by the group of weavers to the right of the painting, which include an old man and two youths.
The first significant change that increased the role of the rafugar was that shawls begun to be woven in parts, and then assembled later. Weavers would deliberately leave unfinished threads at the edges of the shawl so that they could be attached to other parts (Levi-Strauss 1987, p.19). This practice had begun by Moorcroft’s day, since he recorded that when a shawl is required "to be got up quickly", the work would be "divided amongst several shops and the different pieces are sown [sic] together by the Ruffoogar so that the joining cannot be perceived" (Moorcroft 1823, p.17). The need for a quicker rate of production was sharpened thanks to the high output of European steam-driven looms, and consequently the practice became more widespread as the century continued. This was noticed by European buyers. In 1867, the Art Journal’s review of the Exposition Universelle commented that "the numerous seams required in these shawls to unite the different pieces that compose them offer an ungraceful aspect scarcely consistent with the elegantes they adorn". The paper added however, that since those seams did not appear on European made shawls, they "become often a 'quality' instead of a defect in the eyes of the purchaser" (Palliser 1868, p.246).
By the time of the Exposition Universelle, it seems to have become the norm. In the 1867 article from le Monde Illustré in which paintings from this series are illustrated, Leo de Bernard wrote that the shalbaf would only assemble "a part of the shawl", which would then be assembled by the rafugars (De Bernard, 1867, p.55). This crucial stage in the assembly of shawls was illustrated in the article with an engraving by Charles Maurand, very similar in its detail to the present picture. One specific detail given by De Bernard is that the work of the rafugars was overseen by the "oldest and most capable" among them. In our picture, there is a clear hierarchy within the groups working on each shawl, with an older man sat between younger workers. The detail is so clear that in the group on the right, the figures are clearly working on a line down the vertical axis on the shawl, indicating that they are indeed engaged in assembling the pieces.
The second change which increased the role of the rafugar was the rise of the embroidered, or amli, shawl. In the early 19th century, an enterprising Armenian merchant called Khwaja Yusuf and a weaver called Ali Baba identified that shawls could be made much faster and cheaper if they were embroidered, rather than using the traditional tapestry-weave technique. These would also not be liable for government duties, meaning that they could be sold for one-third of the price (Irwin 1974, p.3). Though intended as a cost-saving measure, Moorcroft was greatly impressed by the quality of embroidered shawls: he wrote that they were "more lively in colour" than traditional shawls, but also "less raised and more solid" than most embroidery thanks to the use of twill-tapestry weaving (Moorcroft 1832, p.32). Often the decoration was confined only to the borders of a plain dyed shawl. An example is depicted in A Pedlar selling shawls to Ladies in the Troyes region, an 1837 painting by Henri Valton (Levi-Strauss 1987, p.36). The precision with which the scene has been painted makes it clear that those done in 1837 working on the dyed shawls are entirely engaged in embroidery to the borders.
The relative ease with which amlikar shawls could be produced is reflected by the fact that there are three being worked on at once in this scene, and five more hanging behind them, while there is only one tapestry-woven shawl visible. It is easy to see why shawl workers would prefer embroidery to tapestry weaving. According to Moorcroft, a rafugar engaged in embroidery could earn between five and twelve pice a day, while tapestry weavers rarely made more than three pice (Moorcroft 1823, p.15). The more comfortable station of the rafugars is reflected by the elegant interior: elaborate columns with carved swans are engaged into the wall on two sides, and rush matting extends across the whole room. The group of women and children in the corner are finely dressed, with one of the children apparently carrying a small cane.
The black-bearded figure on the left of the group has a face very similar to the figure in the portrait of a darner attributed to Bishan Singh which sold Christie’s New York, 20 March 2024, lot 561. The setting of that scene is also very similar, including the same rush matting, colonnaded setting, and decorated wooden door. In both scenes, bolts of white cloth of yarn are strewn on the floor around wooden planks: only on the present painting, however, does one of these poke out of the painted panel and into the margin: the only instance of any painting in this series in which the scene breaks out of the frame.
The first significant change that increased the role of the rafugar was that shawls begun to be woven in parts, and then assembled later. Weavers would deliberately leave unfinished threads at the edges of the shawl so that they could be attached to other parts (Levi-Strauss 1987, p.19). This practice had begun by Moorcroft’s day, since he recorded that when a shawl is required "to be got up quickly", the work would be "divided amongst several shops and the different pieces are sown [sic] together by the Ruffoogar so that the joining cannot be perceived" (Moorcroft 1823, p.17). The need for a quicker rate of production was sharpened thanks to the high output of European steam-driven looms, and consequently the practice became more widespread as the century continued. This was noticed by European buyers. In 1867, the Art Journal’s review of the Exposition Universelle commented that "the numerous seams required in these shawls to unite the different pieces that compose them offer an ungraceful aspect scarcely consistent with the elegantes they adorn". The paper added however, that since those seams did not appear on European made shawls, they "become often a 'quality' instead of a defect in the eyes of the purchaser" (Palliser 1868, p.246).
By the time of the Exposition Universelle, it seems to have become the norm. In the 1867 article from le Monde Illustré in which paintings from this series are illustrated, Leo de Bernard wrote that the shalbaf would only assemble "a part of the shawl", which would then be assembled by the rafugars (De Bernard, 1867, p.55). This crucial stage in the assembly of shawls was illustrated in the article with an engraving by Charles Maurand, very similar in its detail to the present picture. One specific detail given by De Bernard is that the work of the rafugars was overseen by the "oldest and most capable" among them. In our picture, there is a clear hierarchy within the groups working on each shawl, with an older man sat between younger workers. The detail is so clear that in the group on the right, the figures are clearly working on a line down the vertical axis on the shawl, indicating that they are indeed engaged in assembling the pieces.
The second change which increased the role of the rafugar was the rise of the embroidered, or amli, shawl. In the early 19th century, an enterprising Armenian merchant called Khwaja Yusuf and a weaver called Ali Baba identified that shawls could be made much faster and cheaper if they were embroidered, rather than using the traditional tapestry-weave technique. These would also not be liable for government duties, meaning that they could be sold for one-third of the price (Irwin 1974, p.3). Though intended as a cost-saving measure, Moorcroft was greatly impressed by the quality of embroidered shawls: he wrote that they were "more lively in colour" than traditional shawls, but also "less raised and more solid" than most embroidery thanks to the use of twill-tapestry weaving (Moorcroft 1832, p.32). Often the decoration was confined only to the borders of a plain dyed shawl. An example is depicted in A Pedlar selling shawls to Ladies in the Troyes region, an 1837 painting by Henri Valton (Levi-Strauss 1987, p.36). The precision with which the scene has been painted makes it clear that those done in 1837 working on the dyed shawls are entirely engaged in embroidery to the borders.
The relative ease with which amlikar shawls could be produced is reflected by the fact that there are three being worked on at once in this scene, and five more hanging behind them, while there is only one tapestry-woven shawl visible. It is easy to see why shawl workers would prefer embroidery to tapestry weaving. According to Moorcroft, a rafugar engaged in embroidery could earn between five and twelve pice a day, while tapestry weavers rarely made more than three pice (Moorcroft 1823, p.15). The more comfortable station of the rafugars is reflected by the elegant interior: elaborate columns with carved swans are engaged into the wall on two sides, and rush matting extends across the whole room. The group of women and children in the corner are finely dressed, with one of the children apparently carrying a small cane.
The black-bearded figure on the left of the group has a face very similar to the figure in the portrait of a darner attributed to Bishan Singh which sold Christie’s New York, 20 March 2024, lot 561. The setting of that scene is also very similar, including the same rush matting, colonnaded setting, and decorated wooden door. In both scenes, bolts of white cloth of yarn are strewn on the floor around wooden planks: only on the present painting, however, does one of these poke out of the painted panel and into the margin: the only instance of any painting in this series in which the scene breaks out of the frame.