Palestinian Shawl

Ramallah shawls are distinct from other Palestinian shawls .They are embroidered on white or natural linen, they use zigzag called tall palm pattern as a design element, and they use a scheme of narrow long borders and wide short border.  The central field usually contains a grid where the decorating motifs are placed. Early shawls are more sparse while later shawls incorporate European design elements such as birds and flowers along the traditional Islamic elements. Hebron and Ramallah shawls also have fringed endings.

This shawl, dating to the 1930’s and most likely produced in the workshops of Beit Dajan, features coiled, mostly light red silk thread embroidered in cross stitch, worked on two linen panels sewn together lengthwise.