For Lovers of Jane Austen

Can you imagine arranging around your shoulders a shawl that once might have warmed Jane Austen through chilly evenings as she penned her novels; as she listened in her head to the impassioned conversations between Lizzie Bennett and Mr Darcy? It seems a far-off world, doesn't it? And yet it is not. Please don't swoon. This cream linen embroidered shawl with floral Turkish motifs in silk and metal thread (faded and damaged) comes from the estate of Georgina Knight, the grand-daughter of Edward Knight, Jane Austen's brother and is for auction at Bonhams on 27 July (Lot 182). It measures 113 x 102cm. and has an estimate of £200-£300
Here you can see a close-up of the central panel with its carnations and periwinkles radiating from the centre in a star.
And here sprigs of embroidered flowers are arranged within the traditional buta outline which resembles a teardop and is probably better know from the motifs on Paisley shawls.