POLAND, CIRCA 1800

Deriving from Persian fashions, the sash became an essential feature of Polish male dress in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, with silk sashes imported from Kashan, Iran via Turkey to Poland. As the import of sashes faltered due to war and upheaval in the 18^th century, Polish workshops took to producing sashes themselves to satisfy demand. A similar sash produced at the factory of Francis Maslowski is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc. no. T.98-1968).