Kashmir shawls have long been characterised by boteh (or buta, which means flower), one of the most identifiable motifs in the Indian decorative vocabulary. The dating of this palla, or shawl border, is based on the depiction of a similar shawl in an 1805 paining by Louis-Leopold Boilly entitled 'The Downpour or Paying to Cross.' The two-tiered composition, decorated with two rows of flowering plant botehs interspersed with miniature irises and other flowers and framed with hashia borders top and bottom, is uncommon before 1800.