Orenburg shawl

The Orenburg shawl is a Russian knitted lace textile using goat down and stands as one of the classic symbols of Russian handicraft, along with Tula samovars, the Matrioshka doll, Khokhloma painting, Gzhel ceramics, the Palekh miniature, Vologda lace, Dymkovo toys, Rostov finift (enamel), and Ural malachite.

This type of finely knit, down-hair lace shawl originated in the Orenburg area about 250 years ago, in the 18th century.

The shawls are made from a blend of silk and indigenous goat fiber, similar to cashmere or mohair.

The thinness of hair is partly due to the severe snowy winters of the Ural mountain steppes, along with particular qualities of feed and living conditions.

The efforts of the French in the 19th century to import Orenburg goats were unsuccessful, as the warm climate of France was not suitable for the development of the fine down hair.

In the 18th – 19th centuries France imported tens of thousands of poods (пуд) (an old Russian measure of weight equal to about 36 pounds) of Orenburg goat down hair, which was valued higher than cashmere.

[2] In the 20th century, the wars and the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Era cut short the epoch of the worldwide fame of Orenburg’s handicraft.

The local knitters realised the down of Volgograd goats was very good for knitting white shawls.

Even though the shawl is large in size and weights 250-300 grams, it can be passed through a wedding ring and easily fits into a shell of a goose egg.

Beside shawls and kerchiefs, there are also other products that are knitted today from Orenburg down hair: sleeveless jackets, ponchos, downy and very warm sweaters.

A good knitter can knit two kerchiefs – pautinkas (“spider lines”) of medium size or three tippets a month.

Because of the high cost of down hair and yarn, an original hand-made Orenburg shawl or kerchief is an expensive luxury item.