Sham S. Misri
Pashmina is a soft wool made from the fleece of the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), also known as Chiru. It is common to the Tibetan Plateau and is found between China and the Ladakh region in India. Chiru are good runners and can move as fast as 50 mph. The population of Chiru is declining. Although loss of habitat and adverse weather certainly contribute to population declines, the most serious threat to the Chiru is poaching. Approximately 20,000 males, females, and young are killed each year by poachers who value the Chiru for their wool, known in international markets as shahtoosh meaning “King of wool”. Shahtoosh fibers are extremely fine and are considered the softest and warmest wool in the world.
After killing the Chiru, poachers usually skin the animal immediately; the hides are then sold to dealers who prepare the Shahtoosh.
Once Shahtoosh raw material reaches Jammu and Kashmir, it is dirty and soiled. Having come from the goat, it has all coarse hairs. To transform this unpromising material into a fabric of fineness, takes all the artistry and skill of Kashmir’s spinners, dyers, weavers and many ancillary workers. The work of picking out from the raw fiber, hair by hair, entirely by hand is a painstaking job. The raw material is meticulously processed into expensive and fashionable shawls and scarves. It is estimated that hand dehairing of 50 grams of pashm takes upto eight hours. Next, wool’s natural oil and other impurities are removed by rubbing damp rice flour. The yield of the finest quality fiber is about 35 % of the original weight. Fiber diameter is measured in microns (one micron is equal to 1/1000 mm). For comparison a human hair has a diameter of 70 microns. Finest sheep’s wool e.g. Merino breeds is in the range of (16-25 Microns), camel hair 17 microns; Toosh (Tus), from Chiru is the finest of all, at 9-12 microns. Goat –Pashm falls in mid-range amongst the finest fibers.
Kashmir’s shawls are woven not from goat Pashm but from even more delicate fiber, Toosh, The Pashm of Chiru. This is the finest animal fibre ever put to loom. It is very difficult to distinguish between Toosh and pashmina fabrics. A microscopic examination shows a clear difference in the structure of fibers and lesser micron count. In wear the Toosh shawls show a combination of lightness, softness and warmth, which is incomparable. Toosh comes in white and shades of brown, depending upon the part of the body it is plucked from. White from the throat and belly of the male is at a premium, and may at certain times have been reserved for royal or imperial wear hence- “Shahtoosh”. Toosh was weighed at the rate of 18 pal to the seer instead of standard 22; [Pal is a measure of weight, 37 grams]. Breeders select for white, a process made easier by the fact that, genetically, white is dominant to color. For this reason the great majority of Cashmere goats in the world today produce white fiber. The browns and grays which are other natural colors of the fiber are identified in 19th century texts as ‘Khudrang’ self colored. Khudrang, however, dyes well into darker shades, the base color giving them vibrancy and depth. Approximately 4-5 ounces of shahtoosh can be processed from one Chiru carcass, and 3-5 hides are necessary to make one shawl.
Kashmiri ladies are very fond of Pashmina. Everyone wants to use high embroidered pashmina shawl. Pashmina is the finest fibers ever woven. Kashmiri women used to spin and weave their own pashmina; no one else knew the secret technique that produced the inimitable weave. Spinning, a hereditary skill among the women of many Kashmiri families, looks ridiculously easy, until you try it. The magic in the fingers and manipulation of the fiber as it leaves the spinners left hand, and the absolute precision and coordination between hand and spindle. To spin Pashmina of extraordinary fineness is a skill which has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations.
A length of hollow paddy straw slipped over the spindle serves as a replaceable bobbin, and later the yarn is wound off the straws on to a large reel or swift (Kashmiri pritz). It is then doubled and twisted, again using the wheel; finally it is wound into standard size hanks with the help of a simple device; a block of wood with two large nails driven into it at a fixed distance apart. The yarn in every hank is counted off into bundles of twenty threads, each tied with a length of sewing cotton, for ease of calculating the amount , both for payment due to the spinner , and getting the correct quantities dyed.
“Pashmina has always meant security for the women of Kashmir. In the old days women got saris of pashmina in their trousseaux, but they only wore everyday wool at home. If they fell upon bad days they cut a shawl out of a length of pashmina and sold it to the shawl peddler for cash. Never forget, these shawl are equal to gold.”
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Pashmina is a soft wool made from the fleece of the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), also known as Chiru. It is common to the Tibetan Plateau and is found between China and the Ladakh region in India. Chiru are good runners and can move as fast as 50 mph. The population of Chiru is declining. Although loss of habitat and adverse weather certainly contribute to population declines, the most serious threat to the Chiru is poaching. Approximately 20,000 males, females, and young are killed each year by poachers who value the Chiru for their wool, known in international markets as shahtoosh meaning “King of wool”. Shahtoosh fibers are extremely fine and are considered the softest and warmest wool in the world.
After killing the Chiru, poachers usually skin the animal immediately; the hides are then sold to dealers who prepare the Shahtoosh.
Once Shahtoosh raw material reaches Jammu and Kashmir, it is dirty and soiled. Having come from the goat, it has all coarse hairs. To transform this unpromising material into a fabric of fineness, takes all the artistry and skill of Kashmir’s spinners, dyers, weavers and many ancillary workers. The work of picking out from the raw fiber, hair by hair, entirely by hand is a painstaking job. The raw material is meticulously processed into expensive and fashionable shawls and scarves. It is estimated that hand dehairing of 50 grams of pashm takes upto eight hours. Next, wool’s natural oil and other impurities are removed by rubbing damp rice flour. The yield of the finest quality fiber is about 35 % of the original weight. Fiber diameter is measured in microns (one micron is equal to 1/1000 mm). For comparison a human hair has a diameter of 70 microns. Finest sheep’s wool e.g. Merino breeds is in the range of (16-25 Microns), camel hair 17 microns; Toosh (Tus), from Chiru is the finest of all, at 9-12 microns. Goat –Pashm falls in mid-range amongst the finest fibers.
Kashmir’s shawls are woven not from goat Pashm but from even more delicate fiber, Toosh, The Pashm of Chiru. This is the finest animal fibre ever put to loom. It is very difficult to distinguish between Toosh and pashmina fabrics. A microscopic examination shows a clear difference in the structure of fibers and lesser micron count. In wear the Toosh shawls show a combination of lightness, softness and warmth, which is incomparable. Toosh comes in white and shades of brown, depending upon the part of the body it is plucked from. White from the throat and belly of the male is at a premium, and may at certain times have been reserved for royal or imperial wear hence- “Shahtoosh”. Toosh was weighed at the rate of 18 pal to the seer instead of standard 22; [Pal is a measure of weight, 37 grams]. Breeders select for white, a process made easier by the fact that, genetically, white is dominant to color. For this reason the great majority of Cashmere goats in the world today produce white fiber. The browns and grays which are other natural colors of the fiber are identified in 19th century texts as ‘Khudrang’ self colored. Khudrang, however, dyes well into darker shades, the base color giving them vibrancy and depth. Approximately 4-5 ounces of shahtoosh can be processed from one Chiru carcass, and 3-5 hides are necessary to make one shawl.
Kashmiri ladies are very fond of Pashmina. Everyone wants to use high embroidered pashmina shawl. Pashmina is the finest fibers ever woven. Kashmiri women used to spin and weave their own pashmina; no one else knew the secret technique that produced the inimitable weave. Spinning, a hereditary skill among the women of many Kashmiri families, looks ridiculously easy, until you try it. The magic in the fingers and manipulation of the fiber as it leaves the spinners left hand, and the absolute precision and coordination between hand and spindle. To spin Pashmina of extraordinary fineness is a skill which has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations.
A length of hollow paddy straw slipped over the spindle serves as a replaceable bobbin, and later the yarn is wound off the straws on to a large reel or swift (Kashmiri pritz). It is then doubled and twisted, again using the wheel; finally it is wound into standard size hanks with the help of a simple device; a block of wood with two large nails driven into it at a fixed distance apart. The yarn in every hank is counted off into bundles of twenty threads, each tied with a length of sewing cotton, for ease of calculating the amount , both for payment due to the spinner , and getting the correct quantities dyed.
“Pashmina has always meant security for the women of Kashmir. In the old days women got saris of pashmina in their trousseaux, but they only wore everyday wool at home. If they fell upon bad days they cut a shawl out of a length of pashmina and sold it to the shawl peddler for cash. Never forget, these shawl are equal to gold.”
1 comment:
Good information . Keep it up
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