The wool is soft with tightly interlocked fibers, making it breathable but also able to maintain warmth and absorb moisture. This woolen shawl is decorated with four diagonally positioned paisley patterns at the four corners of the rectangle and edged with unbroken paisley patterns at two ends. The motifs are made more sophisticated with red, green, yellow, and blue threads, a typical feature of early 19th-century woolen shawls. 

The Kashmir region has been known since ancient times for its exquisite woolen fabrics and superb weaving and embroidery techniques. Kashmiri wool products with sophisticated Paisley design were loved by 19th-century European high society. Joséphine de Beauharnais, first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, was one such aficionado, and left behind an estate that included 50 woolen shawls.

Who is Krishna?
According to legend, Krishna’s maternal uncle Kamsa was told he would be killed by one of his sister’s children. When Krishna was born, his mother sent him to live with a family of cowherds in order to protect him by concealing his identity. When Krishna’s real identity was discovered, his uncle, in fear for his life, sent a female demon in the guise of an adoptive mother, who tried to feed Krishna poisoned breast milk. As the eighth avatar of Vishnu, Krishna was divine and so did not die, but toxins in his body caused the skin to turn its characteristic bluish-black hue.
 
The legend of Krishna and Mount Govardhana
The kind and mischievous Krishna grew up in a family of cowherders. It is said that the local villagers were devout followers of Indra, god of rain and thunder, and held a lavish annual ritual to pray to him for rain and an abundant harvest. Believing that the mountain god would be more beneficent to farmers, Krishna told people to worship Mount Govardhana instead. Indra was angered at this and struck the village with torrential rain, but Krishna held up Mount Govardhan over the village and sheltered the people from the rain.
 
The blue-skinned deity in the middle of this work wears a peacock feather on his head and has his left hand raised. While the iconography is based on the legend of Krishna and Mount Govardhana, the mountain itself is not usually depicted. In Krishna worship rituals, followers pile up sweets in a mound, like the offerings shown near the bottom of this piece, in reference to Mount Govardhana.
 
It is worth noting that to the right of the roof are a deity and his consort in a boat with a bull’s head, which enables us to identify the deity as Shiva, who has a bull for a mount. To the left of the roof is Brahma, who rides Hamsa the swan.

The skirt worn by the nomadic Rabari women of the Kutch region of Gujarat is called a ghagra. Rabari women are known for decorating their clothing with brightly colored embroidery. This green skirt has been neatly embroidered with flowers and peacocks in colorful silk threads using the chain stitch technique. The overall effect is vivid and joyous. Rabari women often pair embroidered skirts with choli blouses and large necklaces and bracelets to create a sense of luxury and splendor.

These wooden sandals are known as paduka, which derives from the Sanskrit word pāda (“foot”). The paduka is an ancient form of footwear from India that was worn by Hindu priests. Consisting of little more than a sole with a post and stub to provide grip between the big and second toes, these sandals are easy to put on and take off when entering temple, and the low platforms help to keep the feet above wet ground and dirt.
 
Historically, paduka sandals have been worn in South Asia and Southeast Asia. In 16th-century Western illustrations, women of mixed Javanese and Dutch descent are shown wearing this type of sandals, whereas Chinese and Western records describe the Javanese as going barefoot.
 
Early paduka sandals were rarely made of cowhide, as many Indians regard cows as sacred animals, so most were made of wood, ivory, and camel leather.
 
The cultural significance of the paduka in Hinduism is linked to the epic Ramayana. In the epic, the cursed King sends his son Rama into exile for 14 years at the behest of Rama’s stepmother, who wants her own son Bharata to be crowned in Rama’s place. However, Bharata does not want the throne and he beseeches Rama to return. When Rama says that he will return only once he has completed his exile, Bharata asks that Rama’s paduka serve as his proxy. In religious iconographies, Rama and Krishna are often depicted wearing paduka sandals.

Traditionally, men in Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula wore tube skirts and anointed their bare torsos with oil or incense or decorated them with ornaments. Starting in the 16th century, the growing Islamic influence led to tunics becoming part of everyday clothing.
 
This long-sleeved robe with printed patterns was an export product from India’s Coromandel Coast to Indonesia and the Malay region. Robes and coats, usually associated with Islamic, Arabic, and Indian cultures, were worn on important occasions. In the 17th century, open-breasted Indian chintz robes such as this one began to make their way to Europe through trade and became known as the “Indian coat” or “banyan”. The European literati and the Bourgeois class of the 18th century liked wearing Indian chintz robes as morning gowns to show off their exotic taste.

Suzanis are iconic embroidered textiles from Uzbekistan in Central Asia that are made using a special technique that combines embroidery and patchwork. From a very young age girls started learning embroidery from elder women. When a woman was betrothed, she would prepare her own dowry, making embroidered hangings, floor mats, prayer mats and quilt covers and presenting them as a wedding gift to her husband’s family.
 
This work has a yellow base embroidered with huge flat-stitched tulips, carnations, and vines. The bold, lively colors create a visual effect typical of the peoples of the Eurasian Steppe.

The meisen is a type of plain-woven fabric made of silk noil, which, while somewhat stiff, is hard-faced and durable. The design of this kimono, consisting of large white arrow-feather patterns against a red ground, is bold and modern and may have been influenced by early 20th-century Art Deco style. The arrow-feather motif symbolizes the chastity of the bride: an arrow that has been loosed does not come back, nor does a bride return to her family after marriage. This garment is a kyūjitai, or unlined kimono, which is thin and light and suitable for summer.