The original of which this is a replica, is a remarkable example of a printed paisley, cotton scarf in 'lapis style'. The term 'lapis' was choosen in reference to a blue, semiprecious stone called lapis lazuli. Actually, the range of blues involved is quite broad, and the term refers more to a technical process than than a specific shade. In outline, it is as follows. The cloth was block-printed using certain substances which simultaneously acted as a resist to indigo, ensuring it would not adhere to the cloth where it was not required by the design, and as a mordant for madder, binding it firmly to the textile fibres. Successive dye-baths, first indigo, then madder, brought out the colours and gave the 'lapis blue' its particular brigtness. The first attempt at this process seem to have been carried out in England in 1808. As early  as 1809 the Mulhouse dye-chimist Daniel Koechlin-Schouch, using a very bright red, was able to create what became known as lapis riche (fancy lapis style). It quickly became very popular for decorative shawls. As regards the pattern, this shawl is characteristic of early paisley prints in the 1810s.