Paisley or
Paisley pattern is a droplet-shaped vegetable motif of Persian origin, similar to half of the Yin yang symbol. The pattern is sometimes called "Persian pickles" by American traditionalists, especially quiltmakers,
[The Persian Pickle Club, Sandra Dallas. St. Martin's Press, (1995). ISBN 0312135866] or "Welsh pears" in Welsh textiles as far back as 1888.
[Quilting and Patchwork, Good Housekeeping (1983). ISBN 0852232764]
Origins
Resembling a large comma or twisted teardrop, the
kidneyThe kidneys are paired organs, which have the production of urine as their primary function. Kidneys are seen in many types of animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are part of the urinary system, but have several secondary functions concerned with homeostatic functions. ...
-shaped paisley is Indian and Persian in origin, but its western name derives from the town of
PaisleyPaisley is a town and a former burgh in the west-Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is situated on the northern edge of the Gleniffer Braes, straddling the banks of the River Cart...
, in central
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
In
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
the design is known as
mankolam and has long been used in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. It resembles a
mangoMangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent...
and has sometimes been associated with
HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
. In Tamil,
ma means Mango and
kolam means
rangoliRangoli is one of the most popular art forms in India. It is a form of sandpainting decoration that uses finely ground white and coloured powders, and is commonly done outside homes in India....
pattern, suggesting a possible Tamil origin for the Sanskrit word.
Some design scholars call the distinct shape
boteh and believe it is the convergence of a stylized floral spray and a
cypressThe Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera with about 130-140 species. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...
tree: a
ZoroastrianA Zoroastrian is an adherent to Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion that is based on the teachings and philosophies of Zoroaster....
symbol of
lifeLife is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes from those that do not—either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as "inanimate."In biology, the science of living organisms, "life"...
and
eternityWhile in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existing for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside of time...
. A floral motif called
buta, which originated in the
Safavid DynastyThe Safavids were one of the ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Iranian empires since the Islamic conquest of Persia and established the Ithnāˤashari school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the...
of Persia (from 1501 to 1736), was a major textile pattern in Iran also during the
Qajar DynastyThe Qajar dynasty ) was a Turco-Persian Qajar royal family who ruled Persia from 1794 to 1925....
. In these periods, the pattern was used to decorate royal regalia, crowns, and court garments, as well as textiles used by the general population.
The pattern is still popular in Iran and
SouthSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east...
and
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
n countries. It is woven using gold or silver threads on silk or other high quality textiles for gifts, for weddings and special occasions. In Iran and
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
its use goes beyond clothing - paintings, jewelry, frescoes, curtains, tablecloths, quilts, carpets, garden landscaping, and pottery also sport the buta design. In Uzbekistan the most frequent item that can be found featuring the design is the traditional headdress doppi.
The modern French words for paisley are
boteh and
palme, the latter being a reference to the palm tree, which, along with the pine and the cypress, is one of the traditional botanical motifs thought to have influenced the shape of the paisley element as we now know it.
[Persian Pickles or Paisley? Accessed February 3, 2008.]
In Pakistan, paisley designs are widely termed the
carrey design. Carrey in Urdu means mango seed.
One last theory on the shape consistent with the time frame of its origin is that the design is a representation of the
leechLeeches are annelids comprising the subclass Hirudinea. There are freshwater, terrestrial, and marine leeches. Like the Oligochaeta, they share the presence of a clitellum. Like earthworms, leeches are hermaphrodites...
(
Hirudinea): the Paisley design often incorporates pregnant
GlossiphoniidaeGlossiphoniidae are the family called freshwater jawless leeches or glossiphoniids. They are one of the main groups of Rhynchobdellida, true leeches with a proboscis. These leeches are generally flattened, and have a poorly defined anterior sucker...
leeches, and a body cavity containing baby
GlossiphoniidaeGlossiphoniidae are the family called freshwater jawless leeches or glossiphoniids. They are one of the main groups of Rhynchobdellida, true leeches with a proboscis. These leeches are generally flattened, and have a poorly defined anterior sucker...
leeches.
European introduction
Imports from the East India Company in the first half of the 17th century made paisley and other Indian patterns popular, and the Company was unable to import enough to meet the demand. It was popular in the European Baltic states between 1700 and 1800 and was thought to be used as a protective charm to ward off evil demons. However, in modern culture, the youth of these countries have used it as a symbol of rebellion.
Local manufacturers in
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and Marseilles began to mass-produce the patterns via early textile printing processes at 1640. England, circa 1670, and Holland, in 1678, soon followed. This, in turn, provided Europe's weavers with more competition than they could bear, and the production and import of printed paisley was forbidden in France by royal decree from 1686 to 1759. However, enforcement near the end of that period was lax, and France had its own printed textile manufacturing industry in place as early at 1746 in some locales. Paisley was not the only design produced by French textile printers; the demand for paisley which created the industry there also made possible production of native patterns such as
toile de Jouy.
[The Prohibition Years, 1686-1759, Le Musée de l'Impression sur Etoffes (The Museum of Printed Textiles). Accessed in English February 3, 2008.]
In the 19th Century European production of paisley increased, particularly in the Scottish town from which the pattern takes its modern name. Soldiers returning from the
coloniesThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
brought home
cashmere woolCashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from the Cashmere goat. The word cashmere derives from an old spelling of Kashmir....
shawlA shawl is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, that is often folded to make a triangle but can also be triangular in shape...
s from India, and the
East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
imported more. The design was copied from the costly silk and wool Kashmir shawls and adapted first for use on handlooms, and, after 1820,
[Beyond the Fringe: Shawls of Paisley Design by Meg Andrews. Heavily illustrated history of paisley fashions. Accessed February 3, 2008.] on
Jacquard loomThe Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade, damask, and matelasse. The loom is controlled by punchcards with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row of...
s.
From roughly 1800 to 1850, the weavers of the town of
PaisleyPaisley is a town and a former burgh in the west-Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is situated on the northern edge of the Gleniffer Braes, straddling the banks of the River Cart...
in
RenfrewshireRenfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic Renfrewshire, also known as the County of Renfrew or Greater Renfrewshire, the other two being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, became the foremost producers of these shawls. Unique additions to their handlooms and Jacquard looms permitted them to work in five colors when most weavers were producing paisley using only two.
The design became known as the
Paisley pattern. By 1860, Paisley could produce shawls with fifteen colors, which was still only a quarter of the colors in the multi-color paisleys then still being imported from Kashmir.
In addition to the loom-woven fabric,
PaisleyPaisley is a town and a former burgh in the west-Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is situated on the northern edge of the Gleniffer Braes, straddling the banks of the River Cart...
became a major site for the manufacture of printed cotton and wool in the 19th Century, according to the Scotland's Paisley Museum and Art Gallery. The paisley pattern was being printed, rather than woven, onto other textiles, including cotton squares which were the precursors of the modern bandanna. Being able to purchase printed paisley rather than woven paisley brought the price of the costly pattern down and added to its popularity. The key places of manufacture for printed paisley were Britain and the Alsace region of France.
[Printed "Paisley" in the 19th Century, Le Musée de l'Impression sur Etoffes (The Museum of Printed Textiles). Accessed in English February 3, 2008.]
Contemporary style
Authors Hal Rubenstein and Jim Mullen published a book in 1995 titled
Paisley Goes With Nothing: A Man's Guide to Style, ISBN 0385477120.
High-profile iconic use
Paisley was particularly popular during the
Summer of LoveThe Summer of Love refers to the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion...
, heavily identified with
psychedelicThe term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλείν , translating to "mind-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly ordinary fetters...
style and the interest in Indian spirituality and culture brought about by the pilgrimage of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
there in 1968.
John LennonJohn Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, author, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles...
had a Rolls Royce painted with the design in 1967. Also, Fender Guitars made a Pink Paisley version of their Telecaster guitar, by sticking paisley wallpaper onto the guitar bodies. The modern recording artist
PrincePrince Rogers Nelson is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He performs under the mononym Prince but has also been known by various other names, most notably the unpronounceable symbol which he used as his stage name between 1993 and 2000...
paid tribute to the
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
history of paisley when he created the Paisley Park recording label and established Paisley Park Studios.
Further reading
- Irwin, John. The Kashmir Shawl. Victoria and Albert Museum, (1973). ISBN 0112901646
- Levi-Strauss, Monique. The French Shawls. Dryad Press Ltd, (1987). ISBN 0852197594
- Reilly, Valerie. The Paisley Pattern: The Official Illustrated History. Richard Drew, Glasgow (1987). ISBN 086267