TAMBOUR, SHAWL

A beautiful lady’s shawl, hand stitched Limerick embroidery on cotton net late 19th century, in Ireland.

Shawls were an integral part of women’s fashion from early 19th to early 20th century.

Extensive varied floral design outlined with machine tambour embroidery and filled with Limerick needlerun stitches.

Tambour is believed to be of eastern origin, worked in China, Persia, Turkey and India as early as the 14th century. The technique reached Europe about 1760 and was referred to as ‘tambouring’ from the French ‘tambour’ for drum, a forerunner of the modern tambourine. Named after the drum shaped frame which originally came from the East.